Hello! New chapter! Thank you so much for your love to this story and to the love you're giving to "two centuries love".
I hope this chapter is to your liking! :)
Stay safe and enjoy!
KISS PROTOCOL
CHAPTER 10: LETTING YOU GO.
It had been a day since Edward had to run away from Bella's house. He admitted to himself that it was stupid thinking he could just kidnap her and run away. But the idea still hadn't left his mind. It would give them the opportunity to speak without interference. He would say what he wanted to say, and she would listen.
He had tried to avoid Alice for a day, but that didn't mean he was out of her radar. She knew every little thing that goes on in Edward's mind. Alice used to delight in the fact that she knew Edward better than anybody, perhaps even himself. That's why she was so close to him. She was like his conscience. His own Jiminy Cricket. Jasper was never too keen in forming a close relationship with an individual who found so much pleasure in their own misery. He preferred the company of people like Emmett, full of life, buoyance. Even if his favorite past time was messing with his mate. Rosalie was just like Emmett, she had her own misery to wallow, but she had tried to put it aside for Emmett's sake, noticing that it hurt him. Jasper delighted himself in those feelings. Feelings of wanting to be better for the one you love the most. Feelings of wanting to play a prank on your wife because you knew that despite her anger at the moment, she loved those moments.
Alice simply got along well with everyone. She existed parallelly in the reality of her visions and in the reality with everyone. She tended to want to see good in everyone, expecting them to be. But the reality of her nature prevented her from making many friends, or at least attempting to. Until Bella arrived. That's why it was so important for Alice, that Bella was happy. She was her first true friend. Aside from the Cullen's.
Once Edward arrived home, expecting Alice to be gone, he found out that his desires were just that. His sister was fuming when he met in the living room.
"I swear to god, Edward. I don't recognize you! Are you seriously considering kidnapping her?"
Edward tried to ignore her, which upset her more. "Go away Alice."
But she did not go. She stood in front of him, small and threatening. She could be small, but they were equally strong. And she knew how to take him down. Not for anything she was Jasper's mate. He had taught her a lot.
"She's happy, Edward. You asked her to be. You told her to move on. She did. Leave her alone. Don't do anything stupid." She pleaded, trying to subside her anger.
He had told her to move on, but not with a wolf.
Alice knew what he was thinking. "If she had moved on with a human, you would have said the same thing. What if she had fallen for Newton? Or Crowley? Or any other boy at school? Would you have let her alone?"
Of course not, he thought. Because she was his.
"I thought so. You're a delusional bastard, you know that? I never thought you would interfere in a relationship. I thought you had values, morals. I thought your parents had raised you to be a gentleman." Edward felt a pang of guilt in his non-beating heart. "I guess I was wrong." Alice turned around to leave but stopped and turned to him. "I'm so disappointed in you, Edward Masen." She refused to call him a Cullen.
Because a Cullen had honor, a Cullen fulfilled the promises made. A Cullen respected human life in all its ways. He was far from a Cullen if he was willing to interfere in Bella's decisions like that.
She called Carlisle and her brothers and told them about the new developments. Jasper's answer surprised her the most, even though she already knew his very personal and private opinion on Edward. He only said, "That damn bastard!", well he more like thundered. Then he told Alice he, Emmett and Rose would be there the following day. They were already on their way but had made a stop.
Carlisle was equally distraught as Alice, ashamed of Edward's behavior. He promised Alice he and Esme would be there that same day. This was an emergency that called for immediate response.
Alice came back to the house a few hours before Carlisle and Esme's arrival. She knew Edward was in his room. "The family's coming back tonight and tomorrow." With that she kept to her room until Carlisle and Esme arrived.
Alice had never seen Carlisle in such a foul mood. He had always been a calm presence. The voice of reason, the one to calm any disagreements between the siblings. To the human eye, Carlisle was their adoptive parent, he took a great effort to look older than his 23 years of age. But to them, Carlisle was more than family, he was their clan leader, and as such he demanded respect, loyalty, and obedience to the rules he had set. One of them being respect the humans.
"What part of respect the humans, do you not understand, yet?" Carlisle asked in a low tone. It was way more intimidating than if he had yelled. Alice and Esme remained sitting in the dining room table.
Edward opened his mouth to speak, but this was not the friend who was speaking, this was not the man he had spent years with before Esme came around. This was a man who had to set ground rules to avoid attracting unwanted attention. And messing with the wolves through Bella was the exact thing he was trying to avoid.
"I don't want to hear any excuse, Edward. You leave Isabella Swan alone, or I swear to god, you'll be running alone." Esme gasped. She knew Edward had truly screwed it over. Carlisle held Edward in such a high esteem, that these words must have been hard for him to speak. Edward noticed.
"Leave my sight, before I do something I'll regret." Edward left the house, not daring to go anywhere near the Swan's house. He stayed in the property, but far from the house.
Alice was shocked at what had transpired in the dining room. She had thought Edward would receive a scolding, an ear pulling, but never an exile threat.
Carlisle left to hunt alone, leaving the women alone in the house to simmer what had been said.
"Did you know that he was going to suggest exile?" Alice asked finally. Because she didn't. Carlisle had decided he was going to listen to Edward first before deciding on anything.
Esme grabbed Alice's hands. "No, sweetie. I didn't know." Alice nodded and hung tight to Esme's hands. "I'm sorry we left you to tend to this alone." Alice accepted her apologies.
"Rose, Em, and Jazz will be arriving in a few hours."
Esme nodded. But there was something else in her mind. "What happened, Alice?"
So, Alice explained to Esme what had happened. Starting from Bella's eighteenth birthday, to Jasper doubting himself, to the family separating into different states. She kept Jasper's feelings about Edward to herself. She told Esme about Bella's adventures with bikes, cliff diving and wolves. The last part took Esme by surprise. "Wolves?"
"The descendants of the pack you made the treaty with."
"Oh wow."
"I know."
"So, is she friends with these wolves? Is that what has Edward planning stupid things?"
"Not quite." Esme raised an eyebrow. "Bella's in a relationship with one of the wolves." Esme's eyes widened. "A happy relationship." She added finally.
But Esme still didn't understand much of what was happening. Alice saw that she was going to ask. "Esme, Edward broke up with Bella in a nasty way. He really hurt her feelings and broke her heart. It took Bella nearly six months to function properly again. It was awful. Edward told her it would be as if he had never existed. He hid his gifts to her under a floorboard in her bedroom. He told her to move on. And now that she did, he doesn't want to accept it."
Esme closed her eyes and rest her head on her hands, elbows on top of her knees. She was most likely, punishing herself. Or blaming herself. She had been an extremely affectionate person to each of the people that formed her family and clan, but she was understanding now that those two things must be separated and differentiated. One thing was to make a mistake that would affect them as a family and the other would be to make a mistake that would affect them as a clan, attracting unwanted attention.
"Is that why the others are coming?" Esme asked.
"Yes. It affects them as well. And even if the last word is Carlisle's, we have always decided everything as a group, family or clan." And Jasper wanted to kick Edward's ass. He had wanted to do it for a few months now, even before Bella's birthday.
She couldn't speak of Em and Rose's intentions for coming back to Forks. Emmett loved Bella like a sister, so, a part of Alice suspected he was here to protect her, whatever she needed. Rose was coming to support Emmett, and to support Bella's choices. The choice that she hadn't been given.
To Esme it was hard to experience something that was not peace in her home. It was hard for her that she had to put her motherly nature aside and think as a leader. It was time that she did. It couldn't all rest on Carlisle's shoulders.
"I better go find my husband." Alice smiled proudly of Esme. In another kind of life, Esme wouldn't be acting as her mother, or aunt, or whatever. She could be acting as her sister. They weren't that much distant in age. Alice was around 19 years old, while Esme's age rounded 26 years.
…
…
…
Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie arrived as Alice predicted. Jasper hugged her tightly and send her a little tug of his love, it always made her smile. They got lost in each other's stares for a few seconds before they broke the connection and Alice could great her brother and sister.
Rosalie gave her a tight smile. She still felt guilty over what had happened. But she was still here, ready to face whatever Carlisle and Esme decided, and ready to beat Edward to the ground if he didn't stay clear of Bella's way.
…
…
…
Edward returned two days after he left. He had done some soul searching. He loved his family, but he loved Bella as well. He couldn't understand why they were telling him to give up the chance to speak to her, to tell everything that had happened. To explain the real reasons of his departure.
He arrived just in time to see everyone gathered on the first floor of the house. He sighed resigned to hear the different degrees of disappointment that his family gathered for him. The thing was that Edward wasn't measuring the danger of his actions, or his plans. He didn't comprehend that the rest of them wanted to stay clear of the Volturi's range.
Esme directed everyone to the dining room. The default place for all their discussions and important meetings. No gifts were allowed to be used, unless directly asked. They were to stand on equal ground.
"Edward. You must desist of your attempts to contact Bella. She has moved on. She is with the wolves. And whatever she needs, they will provide. It is not our problem what she does with her life. Despite how much we all love her, and despite how much we may care for her, she is for all intents and purposes, just another human. And this family, this clan, will not allow you to endanger everything we have achieved. We will not put in peril a treaty just because your ego is injured." For Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper was strange seeing Esme taking the lead. They all knew she had it in her, but she was always the peacemaker, while Carlisle was the one who put discipline.
Edward looked at her open mouthed. Clearly, he had thought that Esme could placate Carlisle, but not this time.
"We don't want to attract the Volturi's attention, Edward. We all have something we want to protect, and we want to keep them away from them."
Jasper looked in panic at Alice. She was the only reason he had agreed to come to the Cullen's when she had that first vision about them. He would follow her to the end of the earth.
Alice shook her head softly at him. Rosalie grabbed Emmett's hand.
"Please, Edward." Rosalie begged. And she never begged. Much less to Edward. "Think of us. Leave Bella to live the life she chose. You made your choices too, and we all respected them, even if we did not agree with them. It's time you return the favor." Emmett squeezed her hands.
"Listen to her Edward." Jasper spoke. "I have fought more battles than I wanted to. I don't want to fight another one I don't want, because you decided to harass a woman."
Edward found himself staring in the eyes of each of the members of his family, of his clan. He could not endanger them. Rosalie was right. They had supported him. But he still wanted to talk to Bella.
"Damn you, Masen!" Alice thundered standing quickly from the table, surprising everyone in the process. She had lost her patience with Edward. No more sugarcoating everything. Jasper was surprised at the amount of anger that his wife was feeling at the moment. He stood next to her, but he was not going to feed her a wave of calm. "Leave her the fuck alone. She doesn't want to talk to you. She told you that already. She told me that already. You were chased away by five wolves from her house. Is that not enough for you? Do you want them to take your head off, as well? If you loved her once, respect the choices she made."
"No means no, Edward. It doesn't mean 'I don't know'. It doesn't mean 'I'll change my mind', or 'I'll think about it'. It means no. She doesn't want you. You screw it over when you stomped all over her heart." Rosalie finished.
Edward had always been used to getting away with what he wanted. He wasn't used to having his family turn on him.
"I just want to speak to her." He fought pettily.
Carlisle's fist broke the table, startling everyone. "Enough!" He roared. "If you so much as appear on the Swan's driveway, I will have no choice but to let you go, Edward." His words were final. "This is the end of this conversation." He stood up and waited for Esme to follow him.
…
…
…
The next few days, Edward laid low. He didn't stay in the house, preferring to roam the woods around Forks. His instincts took him a few times to Bella's house. And each time he realized where he was, he would hear Carlisle's final words to him. He didn't want to spend the eternity alone. He didn't want his ego, or his jealousy to get the better of him. But they had never experienced a heartbreak like his, irrespective of the fact that it was his own fault. They had never experienced seeing the one you love, be in love with someone else.
He just wanted to speak to her. He gave up the idea of kidnapping her. Of course, it was an idiot idea. And he wouldn't make it past the door or the window with his head still attached to his body. He wouldn't be a match for a pack of an undetermined number of wolves. Five was already a bigger number than the original pack had had a few decades ago.
He just wanted to speak to her. Even if he had no chance of getting her back. He just wanted to speak his mind. To tell her everything. Get closure for him. But he could see this was a selfish act. He hadn't thought of closure when he broke up with her and told the family to leave as well. He hadn't even given the family a chance of saying goodbye to Bella. He had disregarded their feelings. He owed them all an apology.
He watched from a distance through the kitchen window of the Swan's house. Bella was laughing at something. He hadn't been paying attention to the conversation. Charlie's moustache was twitching, as if he were trying to conceal a smile. Jacob was looking proud of himself. He paid closer attention and gathered that Bella had cooked dinner for herself, her father, and the mutt, but the mutt was claiming he had prepared the salad, to which Bella had laughed out loud.
He watched her attentively. She was relaxed, she had blushed cheeks and a huge smile on her face. He saw that she had something black on her wrist, but she was moving her hands too much for him to really catch a glimpse of what it was. The thing that brought him back to reality like a bucket of ice-cold water was that she had never been this carefree with him. He could have never given her a dinner with the three of them. He was too serious for his own good, and honestly, she got stuck in her mind too much as well. They were never really good for each other. But he didn't regret having met her. It was hard to say goodbye forever to someone you had loved so deeply. But his family was right. No means no, and Bella had made her choice. She was happy, and he had to respect that. And respect his family's wish to remain unsuspicious, and to maintain a low profile. He owed it to them to put an end to this chapter.
"Goobye, love." He mouthed, not wanting to attract Jacob's attention. His heart sank. But he would recover in time. If this experience had taught him anything, was to be open to new experiences. And to relax a little. Times were different than when he was a human. And he had to keep that in mind.
…
…
…
At home, he caught Alice sitting in the front steps of the house, surely waiting for him.
"You wanted to speak to me." Her tone was neutral, and her thoughts were guarded.
"I'm surprised you even want to talk to me." He smiled tightly. "You did damn me a thousand times." It had been on her mind as an unconscious thought.
Alice sighed heavily. "You have never been this reckless, nor this stubborn Edward. I didn't like how set you were on trying to speak to her. You ignored our pleas. I have never seen Carlisle so angry in my life. You were willing to risk us all. That's something we don't take lightly."
Edward nodded. "You're right. I have no words to express how sorry I am. It was an unforgivable thing to do. I don't blame Carlisle for wanting me out of his house."
"It was not just his house. It was his life, his family, his clan. You were his best friend, his son in many ways Edward. It's more the disappointment than the anger. He had to think of his family over you. And he had never would have made such a decision in other circumstances. But he was not going to allow you to destroy everything he's worked for so hard." Alice continued. "None of us were."
Edward had been so blind with wanting to do things his own way that he went blind to his family's perspective. He would have never in a million years, dare to risk any member of his family. For anything. "I saw Bella." He admitted.
"I know." Alice must have seen his decision because he was not yelling at him again. "And even if we had never experienced heartbreak, we do empathize with your feelings. We don't need Jazz's gift to know what you're feeling. And you can always talk to me. You're my brother and I love you. Even if you make me mad a lot." She winked at the last part.
"I really am sorry Alice. Know that I would never risk any of you."
"I know that. But it is not only me you have to speak with. You have two very angry clan leaders mad at you. It goes beyond a family matter Edward. Never forget that we are both, a clan and a family."
Edward kissed Alice's cheek and went to find Carlisle and Esme.
