EPOV
Saturday, November 13th
Hours after I was brought into my room, I still wasn't left alone. Doctors and nurses and social workers and police officers kept coming in and out, in and out. My head hurt. Everybody was telling me different things, I didn't know what to think and I couldn't focus on anything. I just wanted to sleep. There was too much going on.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, a nurse came in and gave me medicine and told me to try and sleep. I wanted to sleep, but I didn't want the medicine. I didn't say anything. She turned my light off and shut the door. Hopefully she would be the last one I saw. As much as my brain was warning me not to, my body wanted to shut down and sleep. The police had assured me I was safe, but I knew better. I would never feel safe again. It was better that way anyway. I slept sitting up in my bed. I squished up the pillows to a comfortable position on the side so my bruised face wasn't pressing on them.
Sunday, November 14th
When I woke up, I assumed it was early morning. There was light coming in from both the closed blinds and the bottom of the door, but it was fairly quiet. I wasn't tired though. I had rested better than I had in years. Someone had put my bed down while I slept and the fact that I didn't wake up during this shot a shiver down my spine.
I wasn't sure what to do now. Was I supposed to get up? Or did they want me to stay put? A feeling of dread washed over me. I felt nauseous.
I was wide awake, but didn't want to move. I curled my legs up towards me and pulled the blanket and sheet tight across my body. It was cold. I was tired of being cold.
A little while later, another woman came in. She knocked, but I didn't answer and she came in anyway.
"Good morning Edward, how are you feeling today?" she asked cheerfully. I looked at her. Her scrubs were pink and her smile was huge and beaming at me. She was trying way too hard. I wondered if anybody could actually be that happy around me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes by looking away from her face.
"It's a little early, but your breakfast should be up soon. You should try to eat as much as you can. Are you hungry?" I shrugged. I feel sick, thanks for asking. "Sometimes the medicine we gave you to sleep makes people sick to their stomach. You should try to eat something bland anyway, alright?" I nodded. "And try to remember the mask," she added. I had hoped she would forget. The doctor wanted me to wear a mask on my face when other people were around. Apparently I was susceptible to infection. I grudgingly reached over and grabbed the mask I had on yesterday.
She messed with the bag attached to my arm, putting a new one on the stand. I glared at the bag when she was done. The doctor said it was just fluids, but it freaked me out. Anything could be going into me, I wouldn't know the difference. "Ok, if you don't need anything, I'll be back in a little while to check on you. Dr. Wilson is scheduled to come talk to you again at 10. If you need anything before that, press the button," she tapped the side of my bedrail, where the call button was. I looked at it. I couldn't imagine a situation where I would ever press that button. She left, this time leaving the door cracked. I could see a little sliver of the hall. People walked by every once and a while, and I watched the nurses standing at a counter, writing on clip boards.
It was really cold in here. Why did they keep it so cold? Surely other patients were freezing too.
I got up to go to the bathroom, stiff and sore, but happy to be moving around. I had to wheel my IV pole with me, which felt stupid, but nobody was watching me in here. I brushed my teeth and washed my face with the stuff the nurse had brought me the night before, and went back to bed.
When the guy with the food trays came, he didn't say anything to me, just smiled briefly. Guess he didn't know. That was nice. I could just be a random sick person to him. I smiled back as best I could before I realized he couldn't see it under this stupid mask. I ripped it off so I could eat.
I ate the mushy food as best I could too. I didn't really want to eat it, but the nurse said I should. I didn't want her to come back and think I hadn't made an effort. While I ate, I kept an eye on the open door. I wanted to know if anybody was looking at me, but luckily, I only got one or two quick glances from people walking by. I liked to be able to keep an eye on people coming and going, but I couldn't take my eyes off the hall.
At ten, the lady from yesterday came back. I saw her coming and looked away quickly. I didn't want to talk to her yesterday, and I didn't want to talk to her now. I told the police what they wanted to know. Couldn't I just be done with it all? This woman kept badgering me about it, when clearly I didn't want to think about anything but laying in this bed and being warm.
After her initial round of are you feeling better and you're safe here comments, I was really struggling not to roll my eyes at her or tell her to go away, neither of which would do any good. I closed my eyes and put my head back, trying to convey that I wasn't in the mood.
"Edward, I understand that this is overwhelming and you don't want to deal with it right now, but sometimes it helps to talk to somebody." So much for her getting the message. I opened my eyes again but left my head back so I was looking at the ceiling, not her. "Just get some stuff off your chest….we don't have to talk about anything specific, anything you want to address is fine with me…." This time I did roll my eyes. I rubbed my face with both hands, holding them there for a second. Maybe if I just said it, she would leave me alone. If I gave her what she wanted, hopefully she would just go. The police had already gotten it out of me in a moment of weakness, so what harm could it do? No doubt she already knew.
Taking a deep breathe, I quickly said "A man came to my house a long time ago, killed my parents, and took me to his house. He kept me there since that night. Two days ago, I got out and ran to his neighbor's house. Here I am." I looked at her. Her face didn't show the shock that the police officer's had, but she probably just had more practice of hearing fucked up things. That was fine by me. "Can we be done now?"
After a beat, she continued, "Do you want to be done?" I tried not to read into that too much, so I answered quickly.
"Please."
"We can be done talking then. But Edward," knew that was too good to be true, "as much as I appreciate you telling me that, we can talk about other things too. You can ask me questions, or tell me anything you're worried about…." No thank you, I was done. She said I could be.
After a very extended awkward pause, she continued, "alright, I'll be around today, so let a nurse know if you change your mind. I'll talk to you in a few hours." And finally she left. I closed my eyes, wanting to sleep. It was loud. I laid, awake, in this hospital bed, curled up on my side facing the door, with a ridiculous mask on my face, until lunch.
The rest of the day was spent in much the same way, trying to sleep, trying to answer all questions non-verbally, and trying not the think about much of anything.
When it started getting dark, Dr. Wilson came in again, this time with a man and woman I had never seen before and looked highly non-hospital staff like. Somewhere in my brain, that little switch flicked on to tell me to pay attention. This was important.
Part of my brain listened to the doctor talk, while the bigger part checked out these new people. They were, youngish, maybe low to mid- thirties, and well groomed. Both had nice jackets that looked warm and comfortable. The man was tall, with blond hair combed back neatly. He looked nice enough, but obviously looks could be deceiving. Why was he smiling at me like that? The woman also looked nice. She was small, short compared to the man, and thin. She looked a little more stressed, or worried I guess, than the guy. Both were watching me like they expecting me to do something spectacular.
"They're your foster parents." Whoa, what? What did that mean? Like they were adopting me or I was going with them for a few days? She said they lived a few hours away. Why would they want me that far away? I had tried not to do a lot of thinking about where I was going from here, but truth be told, I hadn't ever considered that I needed foster parents. I wasn't completely sure what would come of these people, and I looked them over again, as if I could see an ulterior motive by just looking at them.
The man, Carlisle, sort of half hugged his wife, or at least I assumed they were married. Was he trying to convince me they were friendly? Like a kind gesture would make me trust them. But at least he cared enough to try, right?
They talked to me a little, giving me the appropriate greetings. I stuck to my non-verbal strategy. Esme rambled for a while, telling me mostly random information, filling the silence. The one piece of information that caught my attention was that I would be discharged on Tuesday. That would be great, except I realized I didn't know what today was. I hadn't had a use for that information in a long while. She told me about her other kids, they looked way too young for kids my age.
She asked me about dinner, and then sent her husband out to pick something up. He asked me if I wanted anything in particular. Like I had been eating take-out food all this time and had my favorites. I meant to mentally scoff, but I think it came out too. They didn't seem upset though, he left anyway.
"You know, Edward, we really are very excited to have you come and stay with us. I'm afraid we're a little unprepared, but I'll take that instead of you having to wait in the hospital for a long time." I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, but it didn't really matter. That reminded me, I wanted to know what day it was. Should I ask, or stick with my non-verbal thing…..it had been going so well.
"What day is it?" I asked when she took a breath in her ramble. I didn't look at her when I asked, although I tried to make myself. She didn't mind, and she answered right away, like she wasn't shocked at my sudden ability to speak.
"Today is Sunday, the 14th of November," she hesitated, like she didn't know if she should say the year. I felt like I should be offended, but I only figured that out yesterday. The police officer said I was 16, and it was obviously winter, which made it 2010. I was glad I could save myself the embarrassment of asking that question.
If it was Sunday, that meant that I only had one more full day here, until I would be leaving. Not that I wanted to stay here, but it was all a little fast. I just met this woman, and she would be taking me hours away from here to live with her in less than two days. The thought made me a little dizzy.
Now that I had interrupted her, she slowed down a bit, and was almost nervous when she started talking again. "You know that Carlisle is a doctor, and he…well we, are worried about you. The doctor said you wouldn't let them give you an exam. You know nobody is going to hurt you. It's been a long time and it would really be good just to have a doctor check you ov-"
"I don't want anyone to touch me," I snapped. I looked away quickly, embarrassed that I had let that slip out.
After an awkward pause, she said, "Okay, Edward, you don't have to. Just…let us know then, if anything is hurting you, alright?" I never would bother them with that, but I shrug-nodded, to satisfy her.
Eventually, Carlisle came back with bags from a sandwich shop. He gave me several options, but I didn't care so I just grabbed one. Then we all sat around and ate our dinner. It was a little bit uncomfortable, but not too bad. After dinner, Carlisle suggested that they let me get some sleep.
"We'll be back as soon as visiting hours open tomorrow- I think it's 9, but I'll have to check." Esme was writing something down with a pen from her purse and a napkin from dinner. "Here's both of our cell numbers, we'll be in town, close-by tonight, so don't hesitate to call us if you need to, okay? You can call for anything at all." She put the napkin on the table by my bed. "Are you cold? You look like you could use another blanket," Esme commented, not really wanting an answers as she nudged Carlisle out the door, presumably to get the blanket. I wanted to laugh at their relationship, it wasn't exactly what one would expect, but I wasn't really in a laughing mood.
"It's a bit freezing in here isn't it?" I nodded a little. "Well tomorrow I'll come by in the morning, but after that I'm going to head home for a bit. I'd like to get your room ready, and check on the kids. We left them rather abruptly I'm afraid. But is there anything you want me to bring you back?" I didn't answer. "I'll bring you some new clothes to wear home, and maybe some pajamas?" I shrugged, not wanting to ask for anything. Thankfully, Carlisle came back then, with a second blanket. He went to put it on the end of my bed, looking awkward. For a doctor, he seemed a little uncomfortable here. Before he could set it down, Esme grabbed it from his hands, spread it out, and threw it over my legs.
"Is that better?" she asked, tucking it in a little around my knees. I nodded quickly, wanting her to stop. "Okay. Good. Have a nice evening, Edward. Get some rest ok? We'll see you in the morning." With a final smile and a pat on my knee, they finally left. When the door finally shut, I let out a huge breath I didn't realize I was holding.
Monday, November 15th
When Esme left Carlisle alone with me the next day, I expected it to be awkward. I honestly just wished he would go with her. I could fend for myself for one day surely. But stay he did. He didn't make as much small talk as Esme, but surprisingly, that made it more bearable. We spent time just sitting, well me more laying, but in silence none the less. He tried to spark up a conversation several times, but when I non-committedly shrugged to most of his comments, he dropped the line of questioning.
He brought a newspaper and cup of coffee with him, and when the silence became too much for him, he offered me a section. I took it slowly, unsure of what he was expecting. Carlisle simply smiled and settled himself with his own section, on the couch. Away from me. That was good. I liked him over there better.
When I woke up to a nurse fiddling with my IV, I started and sat up right too quickly. Blood rushed through my head and my vision blurred.
"Whoa, just relax….there you go, lay back down," I was instructed, not by the nurse, but by Carlisle. He had rushed over to the bed, and when I opened my eyes again, he was looking me over with a scrutinizing gaze. I didn't like it.
"Sorry," I mumbled, not fully awake yet.
Carlisle backed up a little, and I was happier with the space. "Don't be sorry," he told me. I glanced at him briefly, before becoming uncomfortable and looking at the nurse instead.
"I was surprised you slept so long, you even missed lunch! I'll have a tray sent up for you, your doctor wants you to be eating full, regular meals," she told me mater-of-factly. Thanks Dr. What's-his-name. I really wanted to be stuffed full of food, now of all times. But indeed, soon enough, I was eating a big lunch under the watchful eye of my new foster father.
Esme finally returned that night, bringing dinner for me and Carlisle. These people were really into feeding me. I never had time to get hungry again. I wasn't used to it, but I knew I could have it worse.
When they left that night, I was wearing a pair of comfortable pajama pants and a long sleeved t-shirt. They were a lot more covering than the thin hospital gown, and for that I was very thankful. It was stressful being so exposed all day.
I fell asleep quickly, not even having time to be worried about what the next day would bring.
Tuesday, November 16th
As it turned out, the next day came very quickly. Esme and Carlisle returned much earlier than 9am. I knew this because when I was woken up, it was still dark outside. As I tried to wake up, Esme hurried me along by pulling my covers back and guiding me towards the bathroom. She handed me a new outfit and told me to get ready to go.
Why the hell was everyone in such a hurry? It was too early to be rushing around like this. I washed my face and ran my fingers over my short hair. The clothes Esme brought me were once again, much appreciated. Thick sweatpants with a t-shirt and hoodie. I was deemed sufficiently hydrated and the IV had been removed the night before, so I didn't have to worry about maneuvering that around.
When I exited the bathroom, my doctor was there, speaking with Carlisle. Esme guided me over to the couch, where she handed me socks and a new pair of navy blue tennis shoes. She sat down next to me while I put the socks on. I looked at her, confused as to why everybody was moving so fast.
"I'm sorry, don't be worried Edward. Everything is fine, we just want to get going." That didn't convince me. She seemed to know it. She glanced at Carlisle, who was talking discharge papers with the doctor, and then smiled reassuringly towards me.
"Honey, there are some people outside who would like to talk to you-" my eyes went wide and I started to shake my head, hadn't I made it clear that I didn't want to talk? "No, that's not what I mean. You don't have to talk to them. We prefer that you don't. They're people from some local news companies. They're just curious, but they need to give you some space. Carlisle talked to some of them the other day, explaining that you will not be making a statement and asking that they respect our wishes for privacy. That's really all we can do to keep them at bay, but they're still outside."
Oh my god. I was a news story. My life was such a joke that strangers wanted to hear all about it, so they could what? Laugh? Hear about my misery? Fuck, it was all sick. It gave me the creeps and reaffirmed my knowledge that I was being watched. I leaned forward, putting my head in my hands, suddenly dizzy again.
"It's okay, we won't let them near you alright?" No, it wasn't alright, no matter if I willingly talked to them or not. I jumped a little when I felt her hand touch my shoulder. She patted it a little and rubbed little circles. I assumed she was trying to comfort me but it really was just making me more uneasy. "This is why we're going to get moving so early, to try and avoid some of the attention. Our car is parked in the garage, none of them can get inside there right now, so the only time that they might be able to see you is when we are driving out. It won't be so bad, Edward. I promise nobody is going to hurt you." I sat up, not happy about this but hyper aware of her hand. Thankfully, when I moved she took it back and let me be.
I went to finish my getting my shoes on, only to come to a halt when I got the first one on my foot. I hadn't actually put shoes on in forever. I had to admit, it felt a little funny. Confining. The process of tying them felt foreign and sloppy. I remembered my little red and white tennis shoes I had when he took me. I could tie those fine, like any eight year old. Now here I was, a teenager, struggling to manage the task so Esme didn't notice my incompetence.
When they were as good as I could get in what I hoped was an average shoe tying time, I shoved them close to the couch so that Esme wouldn't notice. I sat back and shoved my hands into the pockets of my hoodie. I was already tired and I had been up what? Like ten minutes?
Esme handed me a new mask. I rolled my eyes before putting it on. She chuckled. I felt the corner of my mouth twitch up involuntarily, just a little bit, before I fixed the frown back on my face.
An hour or so later, I was cleared to leave and was walking towards the elevators with my new foster parents, one on each side. Carlisle and Esme didn't say anything, but that didn't keep me from noticing the hospital staff members who were openly ogling me as I walked out. For the first time I was a little bit happy about the mask. I put my head down and picked up the pace a little, which they matched immediately.
Two security guards and the guy from social services that I talked to the first day met us at the door and escorted us out. Once in the car garage, I wanted to run to wherever their car was, so I could hide inside. I walked faster yet, but I had to follow Carlisle because I didn't know where the car was.
I could tell we were close to whoever was trying to find me. The hairs on my neck stood up and I felt like somebody was already watching me. My heart sped up and I could feel the adrenaline in my legs. I wanted to run. I held my breath, trying to keep it together.
Thankfully, they led me to a black, shiny, expensive looking car close to the entrance, just a few rows over. Carlisle opened the back door for me and ushered me inside, looking about as nervous as I felt. Esme followed me in, sitting in the back with me. As Carlisle shook hands with the man and thanked the security guards, I tried to shrink as far down in the seat as I could. I could feel myself shaking, and it was embarrassing. I couldn't even walk outside. It really wasn't even outside.
I jumped again when Carlisle opened his door and sat in the driver's seat. I heard the locks click as he started the car. When we started moving, I thought I was going to pass out. I shut my eyes and tried to take a deep breath as he back out and started driving down the row, towards the exit.
"Honey, it's going to be alright, just try to breathe," Esme tried to soothe. I tried again to inhale a good, deep breath. It worked better, but I was still shaking. I didn't want to see these people. I didn't want them to see me. Why couldn't they just leave me alone, like my life wasn't fucked up enough, they had to document it?
"Carlisle, could you stop for a second?" she asked suddenly. The car swerved a little and came to a halt, still inside the garage. When I looked at her, confused, she had turned so she was facing me and scooted over to the middle of the seat. "Edward, these people cannot hurt you. They are just being nosey, and rude, but if you don't give them anything to talk about, they will leave you alone soon enough okay? We don't even know if they're out there, we just wanted to warn you for the worst case scenario. Don't panic okay? There's nothing to be afraid of right now." She might think that, but I knew better.
While logically, I knew reporters were not going to physically harm me, the fact was that exactly what he said was going to happen was coming true, and that meant that everything he warned me about wasn't a lie, like I had hoped. "Why don't you just close your eyes until we're on the highway? It'll just be a few minutes, and then all of this will be behind you." I did her one better and leaned forward, putting my head in my hands and leaning them against the seat in front of me. I squeezed my eyes shut, and was fairly confident that nobody would be able to see my face, and therefore could not really say that I was even in this car.
"Are you ready?" she asked once I was situated. I nodded, wanting to get it over with. The car started moving again, and soon I could see the daylight through my closed eyes. I knew the moment that Carlisle passed them. I didn't see them, but I could hear them. Although I couldn't make out what they were saying, it was pretty clear that their shouts were directed at this car. They got louder until Carlisle sped up, leaving them behind. I kept my eyes shut, like Esme had suggested, until she patted my shoulder, telling me it was okay to look.
I leaned back slowly, blinking at the bright light. I took a few deep breathes and relaxed my shoulder, which were very stiff by this point. We were on the highway, and as I looked around a little, it suddenly struck me how strange it was being in a car. It was hard to keep the flashes of that night out of my head. The last time I had been in a car. I suppose I had been in a car of sorts a few days ago, in the ambulance, but I didn't wake up until I was being pulled out of it, already at the hospital.
I didn't want to think about either of those nights, but it was hard to stop the memoires from flooding my thoughts. I thought about how mad he must be. It scared me so much to think of what he would do if I saw him again. I didn't want to be in that house again.
Thankfully, Esme interrupted them. "What's the matter?" I must have shown the dread on my face. Clearly I needed to work on hiding my emotions better with these people, they were always asking questions that I didn't really want to answer.
I planned on sticking to my silent approach, but thought better of it. These people hadn't done anything to me yet. In fact, Esme had just helped me get through the reporters unscathed. She didn't deserve my silent treatment.
So I swallowed my pride, and answered her. "This is the first time I've been in a car, at least since...well for a long time," I told her quietly. Hopefully she understood what I meant, because I didn't really plan on elaborating.
To my surprise, she smiled kindly at me, reaching out to pat my hand that was on the seat. I looked at our hands together and surprisingly, I was okay with it. Actually, it was kind of nice.
"You're going to be safe now, honey. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore. You deserve to be happy." I didn't know how to respond to that. It was nice that she believed it was that simple. Before I could decide on whether or not I was going to fill her in, Carlisle continued the conversation.
"You know, you are 16. If you are interested, we can get you driving yourself soon enough. I'll be teaching Alice in a few months too. It might be fun."
Driving was something I certainly had never considered before. It was hard to image that I now had a life that could involve something like a dad teaching me how to drive. It sounded ridiculous even in my head. It also sparked another question that had been in my head since I met the Cullens. I didn't really know how to say it, not wanting to upset them when their moods were obviously on my side. I didn't want to sound ungrateful. So I said it the simplest way I could think of.
"What's going to happen to me?" They couldn't read much into that right?
Unfortunately, my question was met with silence for a few moments too long to be comfortable. I couldn't take it much longer and I looked up at Esme to hopefully break the silence. Esme's eyes were watery and I cursed myself for even opening my mouth. I looked away as fast as I could, ashamed that I could upset her so quickly.
She didn't make me wait much longer though. "You're going to come to your new home, with us, and you will be a part of our family, as long as you are happy there. You don't ever have to stay anywhere you don't want to again. We know you've been rushed into this, but I promise you, everything that happens from now on is up to you. We just want you to be safe and happy and healthy, and Carlisle and I will do everything we can to make that happen. Hopefully, you will love your new home and will want to stay with our family, for as long as you need us."
My face was red by the end of her speech. These people didn't know who I was. They never would be this kind to me if they did. It was embarrassing to think that someday, they would find out and realize I wasn't worth all this trouble. I knew I needed to say something to her after she said such kind words, but I didn't exactly have anything that would measure up. I looked at her, her eyes were clear again, and I smiled as best I could, feeling the paper on my face crinkle a little and hoping she understood what that meant.
"Carlisle? Does he have to keep this mask on?" she asked him, out of nowhere.
He didn't answer right away, contemplating. "I'll leave it up to you Edward. Your immune system probably isn't exactly up to par yet, but I think around the house you'll be alright. If you go out I want you to wear it alright?"
Thank god, I ripped that thing off so fast. It was itchy and annoying. If I got the flu, so be it. I was glad she asked, because I never would and I was embarrassed at the thought of meeting their kids with it on.
When we turned into the driveway, I could tell we were close, even though I couldn't see the house. From past experience, I knew it was good to pay attention to my surroundings, should I ever need to get out on my own, but the area around their home was too large. I hadn't seen another house for almost five minutes and that was in a car. If I ever needed to escape from something, I wouldn't have a chance without a good head start or a car, so it didn't much matter if I knew my way around.
I tried to keep in mind that these people had given me no reason to think that I would ever want to escape. And when I saw their house, that was driven home even further. It was huge; three stories at least, a large porch, huge windows, and a separate garage. The driveway in front was a wide circle area with lots of parking room. Carlisle did park there, out in the open. I couldn't help but take a quick sweep of the woods and back up the driveway before I got out. Nothing seemed unusual, but I still would feel better inside.
By the time I got up the nerve to open the door and step out, Esme was waiting on my side of the car and Carlisle was walking up the stairs to the house, carrying the small bag of supplies I had acquired at the hospital. The weather here was damp and a little dreary and the tree cover was making the whole area darker than I was really comfortable with. I wanted to be inside. Whatever was in there was surely better than staying out in the open with the drizzle of rain. So when Esme held out her arm, gesturing for me to go ahead of her inside, I didn't hesitate.
The second my foot crossed the threshold, warm air surrounded me. It felt wonderful. I looked up at the room around me and was shocked yet again at the size. The ceiling was high, the windows huge, and it looked like several rooms had been combined into one big one. The wide staircase was oddly welcoming and the little I could see of the upstairs looked just as clean and well put together as the living room I was standing in.
Carlisle was leaning against the back of one of the big couches, a small girl standing beside him, her hands tightly clasped in front of her with a huge smile on her face. She had short black hair, which didn't seem to fit with her girly outfit, but what did I know? Another boy, or man I suppose judging by his size, was sitting on the edge of one of the couch cushions. He had huge muscles, and I knew automatically not to get in his way. He was smiling, but I wasn't stupid enough to be fooled by that. I wondered if they had staged him on the couch like that so to not intimidate me.
I tried to smile back at them, but it probably came out as more of a grimace. Carlisle finally took me out of my misery by introducing us. "Edward, this is our daughter, Alice, and our son, Emmett. Kids, this is Edward."
"Hey, man," Emmett said. Before I had to come up with some equally witty comment, Alice seemed to pop, or something like that. She made a sound like a squeal and hopped a little. She skipped forward and before I could be concerned, she was hugging my neck like we were best friends and she hadn't seem me in a long, long time. I was shocked at first, staying stiff and ready to react if needed, but she probably weighed 90 pounds and it was hard to see her as a threat.
"Alice!" Esme said in a hush, as if to remind her that she wasn't supposed to touch me. Probably a good idea all around. Alice dropped her arms but hardly backed off at all, so I did by taking a step back out of her way.
"Sorry!" she said quickly, and I had just opened my mouth to tell her it was okay when she kept going. "We're super excited to have you here, Edward! I had no idea that they were even looking for another foster kid, but I'm so glad they got you! It's cool that you're my age too! You will love it here so much I promise, I already did a ton of shopping and it's all upstairs in your closet-"
"And that was very nice, thank you Alice," Esme cut in and then ushered Alice back to her spot by Carlisle. "So, Edward, if you want to come with me, I'll show you the upstairs and your room?" she continued. I nodded, unfreezing myself from the spot at the door. I followed her up the stairs to the second floor. "I'm sorry about that, Edward, she means well, she's very excited to have another brother," she told me with a smile.
"'s okay," I mumbled, feeling a little weird that I hadn't said anything so far.
"Okay, so this is my and Carlisle's room," she said, opening the door to the fist room we came to so I could glance inside. "And Carlisle's office is down the hall, but this is my office. There's books in both if you're interested. Alice's room is the last one on the right. You and Emmett and the guest room are upstairs," she gestured again to follow her up the second flight.
She started on the right this time, showing me a guest room and then Emmett's room. "You probably don't want to go in there, it's usually a bit of a disaster..." she told me with a smile. "And this is yours!" she said, overly excited. However when she opened the door to the first room on the left, I saw why she would be excited. The room was huge first of all, twice as big as my old one, at least. The giant bed was on the opposite side of the room facing the door which I would appreciate more than they would know. There was a desk with a computer chair and laptop, a couch on one wall, a dresser next to a door which I assumed was a closet and then another door, this one open, clearly showing my own bathroom.
"I hope you like it, we didn't have that much time to put everything together. If you ever want to change anything, we can and eventually you can put your own stuff in it, make it more your own. As Alice said, there's lots of new clothes in the closet," she demonstrated by opening the closet door and turning on a light. It was the biggest closet I had ever seen. I shook my head, trying to clear it.
"What's the matter?" she asked, concerned.
I shook my head again, trying to come up with something adequate to say. "It's way too much," I choked out.
"Oh, no! Never you mind that. It's nothing, we just want you to be comfortable and enjoy it, alright? Don't think anything of it." I tried to nod, still somewhat stunned, looking around in a daze.
"Well, I'm sure you're tired. Are you hungry?" No, quite the opposite, I was nauseous. I shook my head. "Okay, I'll leave you to relax. You should still be getting plenty of rest you know. Maybe after a nap you can come down and grab something to eat? At least for dinner, we usually eat around six or seven." I nodded again and moved further into the room, recognizing that she wanted me to get settled here.
"And Edward?" I looked back to her. She was by the door now, about to leave. "Nobody's going to bother you, okay? Just relax, I'll see you in a few hours," she said with a smile. I could hear her real message in that, and it would take more than a few kind words for me to be fully comfortable and trust them….She shut the door and I heard her go down the hall and stairs. Leaving me alone.
AN- FYI, I'm from the Midwest but I live in Hawaii right now so that's why updates are lateish/in the middle of the night for anyone over there :) We're 5/6 hours behind.
Anyway, I hope you like it so far, if you have time let me know if you do. I'd realllllly appreciate it.