JPOV
I was the worst one in this family. I was moody (literally), I was the most irresponsible (even Mike seemed mature enough to run away from a human, as I had not been), I was the most useless member. How could I do this to Edward?
I take his enemy, turn him into a vampire, make them live together and am the cause of the girl he loves death! I was a terrible brother. A terrible friend. I didn't deserve Alice.
"You're wrong, you know." Edward said from behind me.
"Eavesdropping?" I half teased. He smiled.
"You're one of the most important people in this family. You've helped us so often calm people down so they can have a chance to listen; you keep everyone calm and happy. You are Alice's everything. You're my brother and no one is holding this against you. You're not weak."
"Not weak?" I said it hysterically. "How can a newborn have more self-control then I do?"
"Maybe that's his gift." Edward shrugged. "Maybe you learned your entire existence what was right and what was wrong only to come here and take everything you've ever been sure about and change it completely. Mike came here and he knew right away what we can and can't do. You can't just expect to come here after all of those centuries and erase it all in a matter of decades."
"Still…"
"The only thing that you've done wrong is be guilty like this. You're bringing everyone down. We care about you. You're killing Alice by being this way." He points out.
"I'm sorry Edward."
"I am too, but that isn't going to change anything. Help me make this better."
Why does he always have to be right? I would only make things worse for him by refusing at this point.
"Fine."
He smiled and walked away.
BPOV
I was lying in my backyard, the Jane Austen book in my hands. Every time that the name 'Edward' popped up, my heart fluttered slightly. The sun was setting slowly and my last day of freedom before Monday was wearing off. School was tomorrow. Edward was at school tomorrow. That was the only reason that I wasn't sulking around the house right now.
EPOV
Mike was insisting on going to school. He was out-voted. He was never going near Bella again. That much I could ensure.
"You know that I managed to run away from a human before! I don't know who it was but they smelled damn good! Isn't that a good enough reason?" He complained over and over again, mentally and verbally.
"That was one person. Who knows if there's anyone at that school that you want to kill!" I reasoned.
"Come on!" He would give up for another five minutes before starting again.
His arguments got more and more amusing.
"You just want her for yourself! You can't control me! I can rip you to shreds, Cullen!" he would threaten. I would just tap my temple.
"Who wants to be a Cullen anyway? I want to go act human! If Jasper or whatever his name is couldn't resist my blood, but I resisted someone else's, shouldn't he be staying home too?"
"He's hunted. He's fine."
"I've hunted too! I'll just sneak out. I'm not a Cullen, I'm a Newton and you won't change that. And Newtons don't take shit from Cullens."
I wearily tapped my temple again. It was so fun to burst his little shreds of hope. It was even more fun to see him puzzle over who the person in the woods was. I wasn't going to give him anything to use in his debate. He would say that if he could handle Bella's blood, he could be near her. Likely.
"To my dismay, Mike Cullen, you're one of us until you're at least ten years old. I hate to share my surname with someone as barbaric as a Newton, but life is unfair. And you're not going to school, either."
I smirked as various swear words took over his thoughts.
MPOV
Carlisle was taking me hunting this time. I had a couple deer. They didn't smell nearly as good as the person in the woods but it still helped my burning throat.
"Help me. Tell Edward that I can handle this. Put me in a room of people. I can handle it!" I swore.
"Sorry, Mike. And I would never risk the lives of others just so you can get an education." Carlisle said.
"Come on, Doc! Don't be responsible for once! Help a guy out."
"Being responsible saved this coven; this family." He pointed out.
"How? By becoming freaks of the vampire world?"
"Precisely."
"Only nine years and 364 days to go." I muttered.
EPOV
I pitied Carlisle. He had volunteered to deal with Newton for the last time tonight. He hadn't really hunted with Emmett because I dragged him back to the house to yell at him a bit. It wasn't really his fault that Bella was in danger, but it was his fault for existing and that was reason enough. I felt better, releasing pointless frustration on him. This was a nice hobby.
Carlisle saw how Jasper and I struggled keeping him entertained without exposing our world. Mike wanted to do daring things like running down the middle of the street and breaking all of the mailboxes in the region out to Seattle.
Emmett backed off. It seemed that Newton had become fond of him. That only heightened my black amusement because he was sulking over the fact that Emmett was steering clear of him now. He blamed it on me.
Several times, he tried to take a punch at me. Every time, I would just fling up to the wall. As much as I hated my gift of hearing the snide thoughts of people like Mike, there were times when I embraced it.
Alice, Esme, Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett and I were sitting on the couch, staring at the television but not really watching it. There were silences in the family that we could be comfortable with. We all thought about different things.
Edward, do you know when Carlisle will be back? Can you hear him? Esme asked. I shook my head.
Stupid Jasper and Edward and Mike… I hope that Mike kills Bella. That will teach Edward to bring that annoying little jerk into the house like a dog… Come to think of it, Jasper will suffer too because he'll feel Edward being all depressed over his food again. And then Alice will suffer, seeing Jasper suffer. She deserves that… she's the one who brought Jasper here in the first place… Rosalie thought.
I growled quietly. Everyone guessed whom I was growling at so they didn't turn around. I tried not to rip her head off very hard. If Mike were anywhere near Bella, I would personally murder him. I thought briefly over how I could make his death stretch longer and more painfully…