Disclaimer : Characters don't belong to me, although I wish Alice did. Y'all can have moody old Edward! Hooray for the awesomeness that is Stephenie Meyer!
Homecoming
"Soon," I sang to my family, "He'll be here soon!"
The past few days had been agony without Edward. The piano sat silent. Esme moped around the house, rearranging furniture aimlessly. Carlisle threw himself into his work, spending double shifts at the hospital. Even Rosalie seemed lost with him gone. She was so used to his presence in the garage, arguing over the advantages of a manual versus automatic transmission, that she unconsciously stuck her hand out from under their restoration Shelby a time or two waiting for him to hand her a tool. Emmett wasn't his jovial self without the constant competition, and poor, sensitive Jasper was pulled down by everyone else. Only I was jubilant. I've already seen him on the road home; it will only be a matter of hours. I could barely remain still.
The purr of the Mercedes announced Edward's arrival; I practically flew to the car door.
"We've all missed you! Rosalie has had to rely on me to hand her the correct wrench. She's disappointed in my mechanical inabilities. Emmett has been trying to get Jasper to wrestle since you've left. Esme has moved the couch at least 500 times and almost dusted a groove into your piano. Even Carlisle has been avoiding being here." I gushed, yanking him out of the car for the biggest hug I could muster, but I missed you most. I couldn't disguise my elation at his homecoming. I couldn't be angry with him for the misery that had enshrouded our family like a fog. We would all treat him like the prodigal, welcoming him with open arms and forgetting any transgressions. We weren't a family without Edward.
He smiled down at me, and kissed me on the top of my head. "Thank you for the welcome, little sister. I've missed you as well. I had no one to pester me with random visions of my soon-to-be-performed actions. When I realized what I was missing I immediately headed for home." Edward turned toward the house, his arm resting on my shoulder. He leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered," I do owe you, Alice. I know what I put everyone through, especially you and Esme, wasn't fair. It was very irresponsible and selfish of me, but I couldn't think of any other way. I want to explain to everyone, to try to make amends. I won't leave again, but I'll need your help. Can we talk later?"
I nodded, and my mind flashed back to the evening spent at Bella Swan's house. The bizarre, blurry scan I had for her, her tear-puffed eyes, and her total lack of coordination made Edward raise his eyebrow in surprise.
"You went to her house?"
I nodded, suddenly apprehensive.
"You saw a vision for her?!"
I nodded again, meekly and continued the dialogue in my head. I had to make sure you weren't going to her house, Edward. You refused to decide anything! I didn't even see you were coming home until yesterday. They all looked to me for answers and I had none to give them. Now I was starting to feel a bit irritated. So go and explain yourself now, we can talk about the human later. You owe me, remember?
"My, aren't we a bit testy? I know I left things a mess, Alice. What is it you want from me?" He concentrated for a second while I ran through Jean-Paul's spring catalogue in my head. "Gauthier, eh? I'll see what I can do," he winked at me and pulled me impatiently to the house.
Everyone was assembling in the not-for-dining room. Emmett leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, trying to look irritated but barely suppressing a grin. Rosalie, her face made even more beautiful by a smudge of grease, was more successful at looking angry; and by the way Edward's arm tightened on my shoulders she was letting him have it. He inclined his head at her and muttered something about a McLaren F1 being a bit excessive for a few days disappearance. Edward's eyes flicked towards the staircase, and he dropped his arm from my shoulders. Esme flew down the stairs so quickly her caramel-colored hair fluttered like a streamer behind her. Edward braced himself for Esme's onslaught, silent to all but him. She hugged him fiercely, and stepped back, still berating him with her thoughts. After a minute of silent lecturing, he looked properly chagrined. Jasper and Carlisle were the last two to enter. Carlisle smiled happily, and gave Edward a quick hug. Jasper winked at Edward and reached for me. I moved to stand in front of him, and I leaned back against his chest. Any observer on this little meeting would think us nuts, standing around an unused table silently staring at one another.
"I want to apologize to all of you for my actions. I should have told all of you what happened instead of leaving it all on Alice's shoulders." He glanced my way with an apologetic smile. I stuck out my tongue at him, but he could hear the forgiveness in my mind. "Alice did the best with what I left her. I felt so weak, so ashamed that I could barely control myself around that little girl, that I couldn't face you all. I was afraid of what you would think of me, of my lack of control..."
"Edward, we aren't judging you. We have all suffered weakness. You could have looked to me, or your brothers and sisters for support. You do not need to take on all of your problems on your own." Esme tried to reason with him, but Edward is Edward.
Intensely independent and proud, the last thing Edward would do is ask for help with a personal problem. He occasionally asked Jasper about his experiences during the Civil War. He joked and wrestled with Emmett, and worked with Rosalie on one of the few things they had in common, cars. He would discuss philosophy with Carlisle and would compose concertos for Esme. I was his confidant, and only because I knew what he was going to do before he did it. Where Jasper and I were halves of the same whole, Edward and I were the same half. We understand each other more than the family understands us. I was still hurt that he felt he couldn't ask me for help. I took consolation that he would explain himself to me later.
"I know you wouldn't pass judgment," Edward glanced meaningfully at Rosalie. "But I wasn't in my right mind. Let me explain:
I spent all of last Monday trying to drown out the obsessive thoughts which the entire student body had for Isabella Swan. The male population was already lusting over the girl, and the females were hoping to be her best friend. At lunch, she asked about us. Her little friend filled her in with all of the Cullen lore. I tried to gauge her reaction, to see us through her eyes…but I couldn't see what she thought."
Esme gasped, and the rest of them began talking at once.
"This isn't a good sign"
"What do you mean you couldn't see?!"
"No wonder you blew me off when I asked."
"Are you sure you just didn't recognize her thoughts lost in the crowd?"
"I'm positive I couldn't hear her now," Edward answered Carlisle, "But at that moment in the cafeteria I was just confused. I could hear all the students sitting around her, wondering if she liked them, but I couldn't hear if she did. She looked right at me, and I couldn't hear a damn thing. I was baffled."
"I was already listening to Jasper for Alice," He turned and looked apologetically at the both of us. Jasper shrugged, and pulled me closer. "I was confused, but I had other things to worry about. Lunch ended and I went to class. Bio, my favorite…" The dripping sarcasm pulled grins from all of us. Emmett openly laughed. Edward smiled, but it didn't reach his worried amber eyes.
"Class was about to begin, then she walked into the room. I had the only empty seat next to me, so I thought perhaps this would be my chance to figure out why I couldn't see her thoughts. She walked to the seat and…" He swallowed reflexively, jaw clenched against the burning memory, "I almost killed her then. Her scent was so exquisite; I thought of a dozen ways to drink from her in that moment. We were saved by a breeze; the disruption in the air allowed me to regain enough sense to hold my breath. It was torture. Biology was my hell." Edward sat down heavily in one of the chairs, and put his head in his hands. I could see that recounting the story was costing him more than he thought. Closing my eyes I could see he would get through it without losing control. His eyes met mine and he gave me a small nod before continuing.
"I went to the office to switch my schedule, to get away from the demon in human form. The secretary could barely keep her thoughts appropriate as she told me it would be impossible to switch. I was desperate, when she appeared again to curse me. The office was so small, there was only the lascivious secretary, the demon, and myself…casualties would have been minimal. I don't know how they are both still alive. I got to the car, much faster than I should. And you all know the rest."
"What are you going to do now Edward? What do we need to do, as a family, to help you?" Carlisle asked the question that rested on the tip of all of our tongues.
"I don't know…I have to talk to Alice first."
All the eyes in the room turned towards me, and I had a striking sense of déjà vu. All that I could see is that Edward and I were going to talk down by the river, and Jasper would be waiting to distract me when we were through. "Thanks Jazz," I whispered sarcastically, "That's just what I needed to keep my focus." He grinned wickedly, and I saw Edward grimace a little out of the corner of my eye. "Jasper, enough!" I hissed, mortified.
"Let's go Edward; I've got questions that need answers."
"Yeah, me too. I get to ask first."