Where The Roses Have Thorns

I stiffened and clamped my mouth from screaming. I shut my eyes and tried wishing for something again. But this time, it didn't come true.

A hand brushed through my hair while the other snaked around my waist and hugged me.

I relaxed some.

I let my body feel the contours of the one beside me. From what I could feel, it was a girl. I rolled my head slightly and looked back.

A large set of doe-eyes stared at me, a smooth smile curved on a set of glossy lips. Dark hair was tangled and wet. The body was freezing and clearly drenched in water.

"Hi, Edward," yhe voice whispered softly and child-like. I'd know that voice anywhere.

"Rosalie!?" I shot straight up and turned my body to face her. "What are you doing here?" I took another glance at her. She was shivering. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms pulling them in tighter. Her glossy lip was a shade of purple and quivered as I continued my exam.

"Rose?" I asked while watching a large tremor rush through her bodies.

"I-I wanted to-to see you," she spoke, her voice trembling. I felt a cold breeze brush past me and I shivered myself. I looked behind me to see the window wide open and the small flakes of snow dropping down. I crawled out of my bed and crossed my arms across my bare chest as I made my way to the window. I looked out the large window. I could see that white covered everything. The snow had a glow on it from the moon that was seeping out of the clouds.

It was freezing. I shut the window quickly and pulled the blanket back over.

Then I realized that Rosalie must have been out there.

"Why are you wet?" I asked in a small panicked tone.

"I fell in-in-in the pond out ba-back."

"Shit," I muttered and I ran past the bed and into the bathroom. I flipped the light on and shoved the plug into the bathtub and hit the hot tab. I ran back for Rosalie. I pulled onto her feet and she staggered into my arms. Her warm breath splashed across my face and I caught the hint of alcohol. I ignored it and lead to the bathroom.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked in a shocked manor.

"Rose. You're going to get hypothermia if you don't get warmed up." The knowledge of being the son of a doctor. She could only shake her head and start to walk back out of the bathroom. I grabbed her, and pulled her back towards the tub that was quickly filling up.

"I don't want to," she whined.

"Why not?" I asked, letting go of her.

"I'm sc-scared," she stated.

"Of what? Two feet of water?" I asked in a confused tone.

"Being alone," she whispered. I stared at the shivering blonde. Her eyes were damp and her lips continued to quiver and her body shook.

I sighed. "Fine, I'll get in with you." I reached for her hands and pulled her near the tub as I stepped in. I winced at the heat and let go of her hands. I sunk down and looked back up at her. She had her lip caught in her teeth.

"Well?" I asked.

Rosalie's hands tugged at her shirt and she lifted it up and over her head.

"What are you doing?" I asked in gasp.

She dropped the shirt and un-did her jeans. She slipped them off, leaving her in just her bra and panties. I quickly stood up and out of the water, about to protest what was going to happen. She knew it too.

Rosalie lunged towards me, pushing me down into the water with her.

"Rose!" I shouted as water splashed over the edge of the tub.

Rosalie's body covered mine, including her lips. I tired pushing her off but she was beating me. I wriggled beneath her, trying my hardest to stop what she was doing. Rosalie's lips moved on top of mine but once she realized I wasn't responding she pulled away.

She took in my frightened expression and frowned, her blue eyes getting wet again.

"I'm sorry," she spoke. Her body moved to the other side of the tub and she turned the water off. I pulled myself up right and wiped my lips with the back of my hand.

"Rosalie. I thought we talked about this."

"I know."

I sighed. "Want to talk about it?" She shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest. Her chin rested on them and she averted her eyes to the side of the bathtub. A single crystal tear fell from her eyes and landed in the suds surrounding us.

I began the interrogations.

"Are you drunk?" That was my first. After getting a whiff of her breath it locked my thoughts on the fact that she may be intoxicated and be doing things she wouldn't usually do, even though this wasn't the first time.

"I had a few shots," she muttered.

"Did you get in a fight with Emmett again?" Another reason why she may be like this. I felt like a bad cop trying to be a good cop.

"No." It came out as a cry. I looked at her more closely. Her eyes were red and puffy. She was no longer suffering from the cold but still trembling, mostly from her muted sobs.

"Rose?" I called out to her, concern flooding my voice. She peeked at me timidly. I pushed myself towards her more, the tub water swishing around. I slowly, cautiously wrapped my arms around. Not only were her knees pressing against her chest but they were mine. They created a barrier between us. A much needed one at that. I continued to bring my arms around her peach toned body. Her sobs seemed to grow deeper in her chest as more of my bare skin touched hers.

"Don't!" she hissed, pulling away.

I scooted back to my spot, shifting my eyes to the white bubbles.

"Edward. Are doctors ever wrong?" she asked, looking at me with fresh tears in her eyes.

I winced mentally. "Sometimes," I said to her. "Why?"

She clucked her tongue and pressed her legs down into the water. I adverted my eyes away from her yellow bra.

I'm a guy.

"You remember that one night?" she asked. Of course I did.

"What about it?"

"Well. I went to the doctors again yesterday. Turns out that I can have kids."

"Really!? That's great!" I stated with enthusiasm. Rosalie wasn't enthused or amused.

She pursed her lips, "It would be great years from now."

I felt my eyebrows come together. I felt the deep dimple in my forehead. My eyes narrowed. I thought those words over. Not just once, not just twice. By the fifth time my eyes were going wide.

"You're kidding!" I gasped.

She stared deadly at me.

I shook my head in denial, this couldn't be possible.

"How?" that was the only word I could choke out. I was still in shock.

She shrugged her shoulders and nibbled on the inside of her cheek. "It happened last month, maybe the month before - I don't remember. I wasn't having my period. In fact I hadn't had it in a few months. I figured I was infertile even before the doctors confirmed it. So me and Em...you know...without a condom. Anyways. After the said that I couldn't have kids I guess all my hopes and dreams about having a big family were confirmed."

"But?" I added.

"But...I'm guessing that the doctors were wrong." She brought her hands to her stomach and gently pressed them against it. Rosalie started down at her flat stomach, gazing in disbelief.

"Wow. Does Emmett know?" I asked her, she shook her head.

"No one knows," she said in a harsh tone. Her eyes were locked on me, a serious gleam in her eyes.

"Knows what?" I questioned with a smirk. She grinned back, only briefly though. Then she sighed and the tears formed in her eyes.

"I don't know what to do," she admitted.

"Do you plan on keeping it..him..her?" I couldn't find the best noun to use. I wasn't sure how Rosalie felt about having a child.

"That's the thing I don't know," she stared at me in panic. "I'm only sixteen. I shouldn't be having a kid. And you know how much my parents would freak!" I nodded my head. They would.

"But," she continued, "I can't just not keep it, you know? This is a living, breathing thing."

"What about adoption?"

She sighed and snickered. "I can't do that. I can't have my child in a home with different parents, parents who may treat her like shit. I just can't let my child grow up and be some sort of misfit who gets kicked out of school after school."

My jaw began to clench.

"What if they never tell her that I'm her mother? She could go her whole life living a lie. Adoption would be the worst thing I could do to her and not to mention -"

"I'm adopted," I suddenly said. "Alice too."

Rosalie stared up at me in embarrassment and regret.

"We're not your stereotypical adopted kids. None of us usually are. The worst thing you could do for your child? Not telling Emmett the truth. Now. If you don't mind, I'm turning into an old man." I stood straight up and walked out of the bathwater, reaching for a towel. I wiped my pruning skin and walked out of my room.

"Sorry," I heard Rosalie mutter. I rolled my eyes and slipped out of my wet sweats. I grabbed another pair, black, and climbed into my bed, wincing at the dampness. I didn't care. I just wanted to continue to be a part of the black abyss that had absorbed most my feelings.

Numbness.

That's all I wanted.

Eventually I got it too, but I woke up to the feeling of weight being added to my bed. I looked over my shoulder groggily to see Rosalie climbing in and under the covers. I think she must have thought that I was still asleep because the next words that came out of her mouth had me locked in a sudden panic and shock.

"I love you, Edward."

--

I woke up different, new. I could feel my heart beating beneath my chest. I could breathe clearly and better, but it wasn't a feeling I liked. I didn't like to feel my heart, I didn't like to feel my lungs work as they took in air. We weren't meant to feel our organs work inside our body, and if we were we simply didn't realize that we could.

It was a bizarre feeling.

I might not have felt comfortable being to feel them, but they made me feel something entirely different.

Something I was desperate to feel.

An emotion that I thought was gone.

It wasn't happiness and it wasn't joy. But it was close enough.

Peace.

Peace, I think it was.

I opened my eyes to see Rosalie's pouty lips near my face. She was soundly asleep, if you ignored the tiny snore that erupted from her chest. Her lazy curls surround most the area around her. My blue comforter came up to her waist. She was wearing a black t-shirt that would be a large dress for any skinny girl like Rosalie. But it wasn't my shirt. In fact, I wasn't sure whose it was. My only guess was that it was Emmett's or Carlisle's.

I stared at Rosalie a little more.

Her pink lips, always a rosy shade, hung open. I could see the tips of her white teeth.

Rosalie was an attractive girl.

But....she wasn't Bella.

Rosalie and I would never be.

And I'm not sure if that makes me upset or not.

The feeling I was feeling was one of bliss, I was in state where nothing touched me. I was comfortably numb. Nothing could penetrate the shield around me that kept me off the ledge of depression and heart ache.

I, Edward Cullen, was no longer in mourning. My father was dead, and I would move on. I had too.

It was my only choice.

I quietly and slowly climbed out my bed. I tip toed to the door and opened it, wincing at the creaking noise it made. I shut the door and walked down the hall at normal pace, stopping at the bathroom. I had a set of extra cloths in the closet for emergencies, accidents. Something like this.

After I jumped out of the shower I slipped my cloths on - a pair of jeans and a yellow t-shirt - I finished up my morning ritual. I walked out of the bathroom and sauntered down the stairs. I headed straight for the kitchen, my stomach growling in anticipation.

I had usually only ate one meal a day, when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, usually crackers and a sandwich. But this morning was different. I was craving things that I wasn't a fan of. The smell hit me before the sight.

The scent of pancakes and omelets caked my nose, making my mouth water and pant. I stepped around the corner and walked into the kitchen, seeing my mother for the first time in a month. Her dark brown hair was swept up in a hair clip, causing normal curls to fold over and bounce with her step. She wore a dress - nothing fancy; it was a pink, almost matching Rosalie's lip color. The sleeves came down to her mid-arm and the length stopped just at her knees. Underneath she wore a pair of black tights and a pair of black heels.

She looked beautiful.

Had Esme always been this pretty?

I never noticed.

She turned and spotted me, her brown eyes went wide.

"Edward?" She seemed almost shocked to see me. I smiled a grim line and nodded. She stood their dumbfounded for a moment or so, a frying pan in her hands and a spatula in another. I slowly made my way to a seat near the counter table top. She watched me move, as if waiting for me to burst into flames.

"What's for breakfast?" I asked casually.

"Erm," she began. "Pancakes, eggs, hash-browns, sausage -"

"So everything we own?" I cut in jokingly. She smiled but it wasn't right, she was still battling with shock. She turned her back and flipped off the switches on the stove. She made me a plate then some for herself, but of course her portion was smaller than mine.

Together we ate in silence. I went from looking at my food, to her and then back. She did the same. I turned my eyes to the pile of food behind her on the counter beside the stove. There was a lot of food left over.

"So..did you know I was going to eat this morning?" I asked.

"I had no clue," she replied in a small tone.

"You made a lot," I noted, pointing to the food behind her with my fork. She looked back quickly and glanced at me.

She nodded her head. "I know."

Then she said in a quiet voice that I would have missed if I scrapped my utensils against the plate, "Old habit." I chewed quietly to myself and looked away, not wanting to see the pain in her eyes.

It was like this for the whole meal. Neither of us spoke again. Esme pushed away from the counter table-top. I could hear her heels tread across one side of the kitchen to the other. I listened to her rinse of her plate and come back. I looked up at her to see her digging around for plastic containers. She began dumping the food into them.

The silence was uncomfortable, maddening, I couldn't stand it.

"What's on the agenda today?" I asked.

Esme let out a sigh-like cough."I have some errands to run."

"Can I come?" I wasn't even sure if I wanted to go. Something just told me to do it.

Once again my mother entered her shocked like state. She stared at me, eyeing me closely. It almost felt as if she was invading my privacy.

"Sure. If you want." I nodded my head and carried my empty plate to the sink. I rinsed it off and turned back at her; she was sticking the full containers in the fridge.

"When are we going?" I asked, eager to get out.

"Right now, I guess."

"Let me get grab a jacket," I spoke. I walked into the living room and pulled out a jacket from the closet. It was a black zip-up hoodie. It was a little small and made me feel like one of those scene kids, but it was cozy. Cozy was something I was living for at the moment.

Esme grabbed her coat from the closet and I shut it.

Together we left the house and a small part inside of me hoped that we'd both return.

A/N - Another form of filler chapter. But, now we see Edward is over his father. And I brought back the Rosalie/Edward conflict. But this time it wasn't for me, it was for Edward. Yessum.