*Disclaimer - Sadly, I own nothing of Twilight with the exception of merchandise, bought and paid for. I do, however, own my love for borrowing the characters and playing with them however I choose to. I thank Stephenie Meyer for creating the TwiWorld and for allowing us to have our fun with it. She owns Twilight, the insanity it created in my mind is my own.

My thanks to Shug for a keen eye, and the ability to point and snicker. Vital beta attributes. ;)

Whatever Works

All That Is Black

Sam came back to take Sue and Esme out for lunch – he was their approved escort for their trip outside the house grounds. Emily and I hung out at the guest house, preparing and eating our own lunch before moving into their living room for a good chat.

"Sam does all the driving?" I asked Emily as we settled into comfortable chat positions.

"Driving, security… Edward's on set today. Jake and Emmett are with him, so he doesn't need Sam until later on."

"He works on the weekend too? Edward, I mean… well, I guess when he works, they all do."

Emily chuckled and nodded. "Edward's a 24-hour job. He's doing pick-ups for a movie he filmed months ago. That's why he was gone most of the week. They're just doing voice work today. In the studio."

"Oh." I felt completely out of the loop on all of this.

"Things are going to get ca-raazy when the movie comes out. Watch. He won't be able to go anywhere." She shrugged and looped her legs under herself. "At least I'll have some time with Sam then."

I smiled. This I could talk about. "So you two are an item, huh? I thought so."

She giggled, and her eyes lit up. "He asked me to marry him… down the road, I mean. I want to finish school before that happens. It's been put off long enough."

"What are you taking?"

"Well… that's the thing…" she chuckled. "I've been taking an art course. I took the summer term off to help out more here. The accident… well, it threw us all for a loop… but I know I'm not skilled enough to earn a decent living off my artwork alone, so I'd like to teach."

I raised an interested brow. "My mom was a teacher. Good career choice. And when you're teaching something you love, it'll really work for you. Will you still work for Edward when you go back to school?" I would miss her warm smile, even if it was months away… if she decided to let Edward buy her silence or whatever. I was dying to know what all of that was about.

She smirked at me. "I've got a bullshit radar too, just so you know. You want to know what that was about this morning… am I right?"

I grimaced and confessed. "Half right."

"Okay then!" Her easy laugh made me relax. "If you want to know something, just ask me, Bella. But anyway… Edward has been paying my tuition. We never asked him to; he just does. That's Edward. Do you know any of our background?"

"Esme told me that she and your mom went to school together…"

"Right. They've been friends forever. Esme left Chicago not long after I was born, but she was always closer to us than my own aunts! We lived in a small town, population, and I loved being invited to stay with the Cullens on school breaks in the big city. First New York, then London. I was always closer to Edward than Alice, because we were closer in age. Alice liked to babysit Jake anyway." She laughed softly, recalling old memories. "She's, like, a year older than Jake but babied him despite that fact. Anyway, that stopped after my dad had a stroke. Mom needed my help…"

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

She smiled. "Thanks. He hung on for a couple of years, but in the beginning, it was rough. They were both self-employed. Dad had a bait shop, and Mom had her catering business. Quite a combo, huh? Well, after Dad died, Mom was keeping both going, half-heartedly, and we still weren't making ends meet. When I finished high school, I took a job at a café, and we took turns at the bait shop. Edward was in New York then, and he had a bit of money, so he would send us what he could. He paid off the funeral and what debts were left from Dad's business… it was very sweet of him. Esme and Carlisle pitched in too. They're all lovely, generous people. Then Jake started high school, and he was getting himself into messes all the time. It was hard on Mom. She lost a lot of work because she always had to go down to the school…" She rolled her eyes in exasperation over her little brother.

"Edward had moved out here by then. The craziness wasn't what it's become, but he was living well. He asked us to move in with him to 'watch his house' since he was rarely home. It was a fifty-fifty deal – it would put us in a better position because money wouldn't be an issue, and Jake would be away from the kids he was hanging out with, and Edward would have people he trusted around him. The man has privacy issues."

"I've noticed, yeah." I chuckled.

"Well, Mom politely declined. There were… issues. Mom felt like she was standing up for Esme because he had hurt her – not my story, so I'll shut up. So, things got worse with Jake and worse with Edward, and basically Esme asked my mom to do her a favour and come take care of 'their boys'. Mom and I both got jobs out here and took care of his house, as requested. We didn't live here then – this is newer. It was a regular house, and it was more like we were living there with him and picking up as you do in your own home, you know?"

"Like a family," I nodded.

She shrugged. "Well, we were still what we were. Edward was hardly ever home. Sometimes it felt like he had just given us his house… and he ended up doing just that. Esme and Carlisle moved out here a couple of years ago. He bought a condo so they'd have a place to stay. He stayed in hotels, for the most part."

"Okay." I held my hand up to stop Emily's monolog. "He owned two places but stayed in a hotel? Why?"

Emily chewed on her lip and avoided my eyes. Not her story, I presumed. She answered me in a hesitant voice. "They were working things out, but Edward was… not at his best. The network, the studio… whatever… they were willing to foot the bill so he took advantage of his privacy in hotel rooms. That didn't work out so well either…" She gave me what I'd become to know as a 'not my story' look. "And he ended up at the condo with Esme and Carlisle. Then the accident happened."

I leaned forward as her voice lowered.

"He bought this place, planning ahead for when Esme was released from the hospital. It gave both of them everything they needed, but he was lost. He can't take care of a place like this on his own, let alone take care of Esme. He didn't want her in a nursing home, but he knew he couldn't do it alone. He didn't trust anyone Mike brought in to help him – with reason, of course. He asked my mom if she would please consider working for him… running his house. He doesn't have the luxury of living like a normal person – doing his own grocery shopping and stuff like that. He gave us the guest house so we would each have our private lives. Now that Jake's finished school, he works for him as well."

"Security," I surmised. "He's huge!"

Emily laughed and nodded. "He's built for the job, that's for sure. And Edward knows he can trust him."

"Sam, too…"

"He put his faith in me on that one," she smiled. "Initially, he was a hired driver for the network. Edward started requesting him because they got along really well. We started dating not long after and… Edward feels that if I trust Sam, then he can, too, so he hired him away from the network. Sam is like family already. And Emmett came with Edward, so there's no problem there. He's a sweetheart."

"Came with him…?" Was Emmett in the business as well and not security as I'd thought?

"They were friends in New York. As kids. When Edward moved back there, they reunited and have been together since. Emmett looks out for him like no one else would. It's kind of natural, if you know Edward, that he'd bring his best buds along for the ride. His best friend from London went with him to New York, and the three of them came here. That's part of the reason for the hotel rooms, too. It was too crowded with his friends and his parents in the condo. He had always given Emmett and Jasper his freebie hotel stays so they wouldn't influence Jake."

Emily nodded at my curious look. "Partying. You can imagine. Edward's calmed down a lot – grown up. Even before the accident, he was getting better. Now he's all work and only occasional play. It's harder for him to misbehave publicly, because he's always caught. Emmett is his personal guard dog as well as best friend. He keeps Edward under control and the media and fans away when things go awry. There's always the chance that something will get out though."

"And Esme will find out," I added. "She's obsessed with entertainment news!"

"I know, right?" Emily giggled. "She's so funny! She gets all bashful whenever the concept of her son being with a woman comes up – like it's unspeakable! But she won't stay away from the gossip to see who he's involved with."

"Does he have a girlfriend?" Just curious…

My question was met with a shrug. "I would say no… but who knows? He's really private about that stuff."

"He doesn't introduce anyone to his mom? She has to read about it when he's seeing someone?"

"Pretty much. Anyone in the rags with him wouldn't be serious enough for him to bring home."

"So he's a man-slut?" I cocked an eyebrow, and Emily laughed, blushing.

"I… I don't know. Maybe I'm a bit more like Esme than I care to admit with that. I doubt he sleeps with everyone he's been associated with, but he's not an innocent. Any more detail than that, I don't really want to know. I don't want to know what Jake's doing either… but yet, I want to know he's safe. It's the same with Edward."

I nodded my understanding of her situation. "Have you ever met any of his girlfriends?"

"A couple. I stopped going out with them socially after he was an asshole with one, in particular. She was a sweet girl. It was difficult when they were breaking up, because he didn't do it cleanly. He really messed her up. We had become friends, and yet Edward is… Edward. I can't betray him. But I can't watch him break hearts either. It's a moot point anyway, because it's not like he can go out with a girlfriend in public. He would never do that now." She stood abruptly, taking her glass to the kitchen, and that was the end of the discussion. When she returned, she announced that Esme and Sue were back from lunch.

~ 0 ~

The following several days were filled with tension. Edward did not make it home for dinner, as he had warned Emily before he went to work on Saturday. In fact, he didn't come home at all, and hadn't been seen in the house since. If he was coming home, it was late and he left early without Emily or Sue seeing him. Even Jessica was inquiring about him.

"How would she know if he's slept in his bed or not?" Sue hissed when I told her Jessica had mentioned that to me. "She's not supposed to be in his room at all! That girl…"

Emily had told me that Sue was the only one he allows in his personal rooms to collect his laundry and clean up a bit for him. Jessica was supposed to clean the other rooms – I still had no idea what exactly was upstairs in regards to rooms – but not Edward's personal rooms. From what I could tell, Edward had the rooms to the left at the top of the stairs; the ones directly over Esme's quarters and Emmett had a room at the other end. Mike stayed in one sometimes, too. It seemed like there would be more than that to clean however, because Jessica spent more than half of her days up there.

"Does Edward know she's been going in there?"

Sue let out a long breath. "I spoke with Mike about it after that last time. I have no idea if he told Edward or not. And Esme doesn't think we should involve ourselves further."

"Oh." That was that. "Well, I guess if he cared so much, he'd be around to ensure his rooms were still private."

Sue snorted in agreement before she went back to rolling her pastry.

I considered asking Esme to reconsider – I understood Edward's need for some privacy, and if he specifically requested that no one invade his space, he should be respected. And he should be told if that were the case. On the other hand, I wasn't sure if I wanted to put myself between Esme and Edward. It certainly wasn't my place. And I had a sense of dread that Esme suspected some sort of relationship between them and that's why she wanted us to stay out of it. I hoped that wasn't the case.

I didn't have an opportunity to ask, even if I wanted to. She was on the phone when I went in and then talked my ear off about her daughter. I listened to tales of a complete stranger with as much interest as I could manage – I was thrilled to see Esme so excited about something. She had been somewhat reclusive herself in Edward's unexplained absence. By the way she told me every detail of her conversation with Alice, I assumed she would have mentioned if Edward had called her at all.

At first, when he didn't come home, I was disappointed for Emily. She was filled with guilt over her angry words and blamed herself for his disappearance act. I guess I would have, too, if I were in her place. She had woven an intriguing image of him that I wanted a better view of. I could see bits and pieces of the guy she described from our brief interactions, but no one impression stood out. Then I got irritated with him for acting like a child and running away. Even if he was upset over Emily's words, he could confront her and resolve it!

And then there was his mother… she was worried, even if she didn't say the words aloud. And she missed him. She had sat glued to the TV during any and all chances of entertainment bits. I even caught her Googling his name to see if there were reports on what he'd been up to. Normally, I would have found this more than a little creepy, seeing as he was a grown man, and his mother was Googling him for gossip? Really? No wonder he demanded privacy. I couldn't exactly blame him for not wanting his mother to know every detail of his life… but he could call. He could let her know he was alive and well. Childish ass, was my final thought about him before he actually showed his face.

After a soft knock and brief pause, he entered sheepishly. Esme stopped mid-sentence and froze at the sight of him. After several long seconds, she brought a trembling hand up to her mouth as her lip quivered. Oh, no. She was going to cry.

Edward dashed across the room, the impish smile dropped and a look of concern on his face. He dropped to his knees and threw his arms around her as she buried her face against his shoulder. "Is everything okay?" he asked, looking at me for an answer.

I shrugged. No, she missed her asshole son. I chewed on my fingernail rather than giving him my thoughts.

Esme straightened up and blotted her eyes with a tissue. "I'm just overly emotional, dear. Everything's fine. How've you been?"

He skilfully avoided her question by presenting her with a box of shortbreads from a bakery she was fond of. "Just like home," he said softly.

"Carlisle's favourite." She smiled at him and stroked his cheek.

"Mum, would you like to visit the cemetery? I realized you haven't been."

Oh, boy. Here I was in the middle of another very personal conversation. I had no idea if it would be proper etiquette to sit by quietly or to dash from the room. It felt like I was sitting on glue, so I didn't attempt the mad dash.

"Would you…?"

He shook his head. "Sam would take you. Emmett would go… maybe you could take Bella. Or Emily? I couldn't go with you, Mum. Sorry."

She nodded sadly. "I know. I'll wait for Alice."

An unreadable look passed across his face, and then he was stone. "You've heard from her?"

"Yes! I just spoke with her today!" Esme didn't mask her excitement.

"She's coming here?"

"Possibly. She didn't rule it out."

Edward cleared his throat and gazed over his mother's head. "Don't get your hopes up."

I was kind of appalled at his nerve – telling his mother not to hope for a visit from her daughter when the son that she lived with disappeared for days without word. Did he not think that was a disappointment to her? Don't get involved Bella… not your place…

"You could call her."

"She could call me and not lecture," he countered stoically.

"You're the older and, dare I say, more mature one…"

"Don't." Edward's one-word demand wasn't vicious sounding. It was almost a whispered plea.

"Edward… this has gone on long enough. I know you two can work through this. You could start it out; it wouldn't make you the weaker one."

He closed his eyes, his face remaining emotionless. "Sorry. I can't." He rose from his knees, kissed the top of her head, and strode out without another word, closing the door behind him.

"And he's gone again," Esme commented quietly.

A/N ~ Bella can only remain silent for so long. She'll light a fire under moody Edward next. :)
Thanks for staying with us! xx ~ SR