Disclaimer: Don't own it, just get a kick out of writing about it. Thanks Stephenie!
A heartfelt thank you goes out to my beta, Emilie Fauve!
AN: Okay, no one hurt me…just as I start to get most of you to like the idea of E&R together in the last chapter, she tells him it's over. Normally, I'd say "time for Emoward to make an appearance", BUT never fear – this chapter will be more about Revengeward than Angstward. And I promise to bring back Sexward in the next chapter. (really, I just wanted an excuse to use all of these cool nicknames for him!) Thanks again for all of the support from the faithful B&E fans out there – I heart you guys!!!
It took me over an hour to compose myself after her abrupt departure, her words flitting repeatedly in my head.
We need to stop doing this.
Of course, she was absolutely right. There were no excuse for my…our…behavior over the past few days. I didn't love her, and I knew she didn't love me. Our actions were wonton and grossly irresponsible. A resounding huff escaped me as I thought about Carlisle and Esme's reactions if they were to know what had happened. They must never find out, I resolved.
Rosalie had stated her wish to end our indecent activities, and I would comply with her request, even if a large part of me objected fiercely to that decision. The smartest thing I could do was try to avoid her, something I had successfully achieved until the past few days. Even with her consciously blocking my mental queries, I would still be able to detect her approaching presence and leave the vicinity immediately. Though, based on her departing thought on our rock, I doubted she'd be coming anywhere near me in the foreseeable future.
After deciding on my course of action, as it pertained to the two of us, I found myself torn between two choices; hunt, or venture home. It was mid-afternoon, and the heat was terribly oppressive, even to as cold a being such as I. The stark difference between this locale and the northerly areas I had grown accustomed to was amazing. Seeking out prey was no longer an adventure - rather, it was depressingly lackluster during the daytime hours, as our quarry were quite susceptible to the humid air, becoming lethargic until the cool evening breezes began to rush down the slopes of the surrounding hills. Hunting was definitely out of the question until nightfall.
Therefore, I decided to return home. Upon nearing the house, I quickly caught wind of Rosalie, her unmistakably pleasurable scent causing my nostrils to flare in an attempt to placate my sudden thirst for her tender lips. She was inside.
I stopped dead in my tracks, weighing my options. Flight, or fight? Although I had recently decided to steer clear of her, I found myself weary of constantly running away. Though I could respect her request to halt our secret rendezvous', I had just as much right to enter our home at will as she did, if not more so. Besides, she was the one who had decided that she no longer wanted any relationship with me, platonic or otherwise. This was my home. This was my family. Let her leave if she was uncomfortable.
The only thing I was concerned about was keeping our little tryst between the two of us. Since she had made it clear that it would never happen again, it was nothing Carlisle and Esme needed to know about. I squared my shoulders in resolve, preparing myself for anything she might say or do to expose our secret by having a multitude of explanations, excuses, and anecdotes foremost in my head. With that, I courageously moved forward into the front yard.
Carlisle and Esme's thoughts became a conglomerate of emotions the moment they heard my approach.
Finally, our family will be together.
I huffed in annoyance at Esme's joyous sentiments.
Son, please…don't be upset. Come inside – join us. Don't leave simply because Rosalie's here.
Carlisle's thoughts were a bit less revolting, presumably since he had heard my reaction to Esme's, and I couldn't help but empathize. He had waited too long for this reunion.
I opened the front door, entering forcefully and without hesitation. For the first time in over a month, our family would be completely assembled within the confines of our home.
All eyes were upon me; first, I glanced to my rock – Carlisle. He nodded once in welcome, allowing his gratefulness to spill out in waves from his mind. I let a twinge of a smile cross my lips to convey my own gratitude at his kind thoughts before shifting my eyes to my mother.
You don't know how much this means to me…
I bowed my head silently for a second to acknowledge her appreciation. Then, as my gaze moved past Esme to my right, I made eye contact with her.
I shouldn't have left you the way I did.
Her anfractuous thought permeated through my soul in a way that I was completely unprepared for. I wanted to rush across the room and meld my lips to hers, letting the wavering tide of passionate upheaval run its course. Let her request be damned. I felt my leg rise, prepared to start the miniscule journey across the room to follow through with my impulse, when she halted my absurd behavior at once.
But I meant what I said. It was just a kiss – nothing more.
The overwhelming urge to bolt across the room dissipated instantly. I was left completely dumbfounded, staring with my jaw slightly open at her confident stance. Was she saying that it had all been a farce?
"Finally, a family reunion!" Esme's light tone pierced my ears, breaking me from Rosalie's malevolent spell. I turned back to my mother immediately, forcing a smile at her obvious joy.
"I've missed you, too," I proclaimed with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, hugging her warmly. My gesture was not entirely insincere – I had honestly yearned for the company of my surrogate parents over the past few weeks. Plus, I wanted her to see that I was unaffected by her spiteful thoughts. She would not chase me away easily from my family.
Carlisle's delight as he watched us embrace was evident, spreading infectiously across the room. "This calls for a celebration of sorts," he declared.
I kissed Esme affectionately on the cheek before turning to Carlisle.
"What did you have in mind?" I asked innocently, becoming instantly suspicious a second later when he began blocking me from his thoughts. What was going on?
Don't tell me you haven't heard what they have planned for us.
Glancing back at Rosalie, I caught her rolling her eyes in tangent with her sardonic thought.
Esme trotted across the room to Carlisle's side, hugging him fiercely for a moment. Then, she turned to me. "We're just so happy to have our family back together."
Instantly, I scanned her mind as well, seeking out the activity that Rosalie had warned me of. But Esme's thoughts were as guarded as Carlisle's.
At first, I honestly couldn't imagine what they had planned. Group activities in the past had been limited to hunting, social excursions into populated areas, and occasional discussions around the latest books we were reading. Two of the three could be ruled out immediately – it was too hot to hunt, and Carlisle would never risk allowing Rosalie near humans so soon. That left very limited options.
Crossing my arms, I waited nervously for an explanation, or at the very least, the next merry sentiment to inevitably expel from someone's mouth. Yet strangely, it never came…instead, an eerie silence fell across the room.
Finally, Carlisle took a deep breath before addressing us. "Let me begin by restating how happy Esme and I are to have the two of you together with us." He looked pointedly at Rosalie first, then at me. "You must realize how strong our shared desire for family unity, both in and out of our home, is; that we are more than willing to do whatever it will take to foster camaraderie between the four of us."
For some reason, a nagging sensation crept into my bones upon hearing Carlisle's speech. What could they possibly have in mind that would foster camaraderie? I swallowed thickly, avoiding the irresistible urge to sneak another peek at Rosalie as she let another impious thought slip out.
Edward actually has no idea what they're about to propose…he looks scared to death.
My lip twitched as my mind imagined dozens of horrifying scenarios involving the two of us unwillingly thrust together. Dancing? Candid discussions about how we should be courting one-another? An arranged marriage? I was nearing my breaking point as the possibilities grew more and more absurd, and it was all I could do to keep from fleeing the house again.
Carlisle must have sensed my fear; he blinked once before chuckling lightly and giving me a knowing look.
I apologize for worrying you, Edward. It's nothing bad.
I remained still, waiting for him to continue.
"Well then, I thought we might start a new tradition, now that we have four in our family." This time, my eyes flitted to Rosalie's motionless form of their own accord. Her lips were pursed together, her eyes boring into Carlisle as she waited for him to unveil the big surprise.
"Who would like to learn to play Bridge?"
My shoulders slumped in relief upon hearing that I was not going to be forced into some romantic activity with Rosalie. Instead, cards. That should be safe enough for us to engage in – I could easily devote my attention to the game and block out the obdurate creature who, of late, ruled my every thought.
"Sure, why not?" I replied.
Esme clapped her hands in delight before rushing up to Rosalie. "Oh, this will be so much fun! Have you ever played before? You realize we'll be on teams…" She steered Rosalie into the unused kitchen and over to the mahogany table.
I watched them leave, then turned back to Carlisle. "Since when have you been interested in cards?" I asked curiously.
"Oh, some of my colleagues were talking about their Bridge tournaments back in Rochester. I found a book on the rules of the game, and found it to be rather fascinating," he explained thoughtfully as we strolled across the room. "However, it requires four people to play, so it had never been worth pursuing when it was just the three of us."
We joined the women in the kitchen and took our seats across from our perspective partners. Obviously, I was paired with Rosalie. As I settled myself in the chair, I glanced up to find her staring at me.
I meant what I said before.
I looked down and then back up in a silent answer to her thought while Carlisle began to explain the rules of the game to us. Thankfully, I was able to grasp the rudimentary concepts without giving him my full attention. Instead, I held Rosalie's icy gaze, a sort of showdown occurring between us. I probed her mind, searching out the validity of her earlier proclamation that the kiss had meant nothing to her. Was she referring to the last one, or all of them? Was she being sincere? The more I mulled over her words, the more agitated I became.
Do you think this is some contrived way of trying to push us together? Because it won't work.
As Esme began to deal out the cards, I lifted my shoulders slowly in a shrug as my eyes broke away from hers, now focused on the game before us. She should be shrewd enough to notice my subtle answer to her question, and hopefully get the hint that I was done with our wordless conversation. The only way I was going to be able to stand sitting across from her was to devote all of my attention on the game.
Rosalie's mind quieted as we began. A few passing jokes were made between Carlisle and Esme about my capability of unethical play, and I dutifully promised not to spy on anyone's hand, including my partner's. Concentrating on not cheating made it easier to forget about her. Besides, everyone knew that cheating was not prevalent in my nature – apparently everyone but Rosalie. As our opponents started to trump us in points, Rosalie resumed her wordless communication.
I don't like to lose.
Again, I shrugged, trying to hide a devious smirk. She may have been irate at our losing, but I was just beginning to thoroughly enjoy her discomfort in our current situation. As Carlisle and Esme conversed easily between themselves, I realized that the tides of power between Rosalie and I were shifting yet again – I could literally feel her frustration mount as I let Carlisle and Esme win another trick by playing a lesser card from my hand. No one had asked me not to throw the game. My aggravation from earlier in the afternoon dissipated rapidly, seeming to flow out of my body and directly into Rosalie's.
As the round ended and Rosalie took her turn to deal out the next hand, I unconsciously glanced up at her stony expression for a second.
Edward – I've got three good spades.
Internally, I debated whether I ought to use the insider information for our benefit. Carlisle and Esme were substantially ahead of us in points – would it hurt to skew one round in our favor if it merely evened the playing field? Probably not, but it would still be dishonorable. I ignored Rosalie's tip and played my own hand.
As we lost more points to our sonsy opponents, I abruptly became aware of a low growl. Looking up from my hand, I noticed Rosalie was simmering, her lips beginning to curl back in irritation. I glanced over to Carlisle to gauge his reaction to her inappropriate behavior, but he appeared oblivious. Esme, too, was completely engrossed in her cards, not noticing our exchange.
Then I realized that the growl I was hearing was in my head, meant specifically for me. I turned back to appraise Rosalie with a blank expression, waiting for her to blast me with a licentious thought.
You're not playing very well, partner.
I smirked as Carlisle began shuffling and dealing the cards out for the subsequent round.
I'm going to bid four.
Ignoring her, I called out a lesser bid, resulting in a loss of more points to Carlisle and Esme.
Are you trying to make us lose?
I dealt out the next round of cards silently, sandbagging our tricks again. Waves of fury began to roll off of Rosalie as the point spread between us and our opponents increased.
Edward Cullen!
She mentally screamed my name so loudly that my head automatically shot up to meet her withering stare. Rosalie slammed her fists down upon the table, leaving two dents and splintering the smooth surface, commanding Carlisle and Esme's attention at once. She threw her cards at me, stood up, and snarled fiercely.
You are the most puerile being that ever existed! How dare you throw the game and force us to lose!
Then she was gone, flying out the front door, breaking it off its hinges in the process.
I sat dumbfounded, staring blankly at her empty chair. Her temper was as bad, if not worse, than my own, but at least I was able to control mine. Maybe now Carlisle and Esme would understand our distaste for one another.
"Edward, what was that all about?" I tore my eyes away to look over at Carlisle, his expression mirroring mine.
Did she say anything before she left?
Esme started blankly at me, awaiting my answer as my mind scrambled aimlessly, torn between truth and another lie. Should I tell them that she wanted me to cheat? And, more importantly, that I was honestly throwing the game as a sort of revenge? Do not share that, I commanded myself, coming to a quick decision. Tell the truth, but keep it simple.
"She is….upset with my playing ability," I began, picking my words carefully. "Rosalie didn't agree with some of my plays that led to our defeat."
Carlisle's expression was one of perplexity; he didn't know what to think. "Well…I guess we should consider rotating partners next time, then."
I glanced back over to Esme, who looked extremely worried. "Should one of us go after her?"
"Yes, we don't want her out on her own if she's that upset," agreed Carlisle. He gazed at Esme, the two of them silently communicating in their own, unique way. I automatically turned away, always a bit uncomfortable watching these moments between them, and forced myself to stay out of their heads. Surely they were deciding which, if not both, should go after her. Fighting back a chuckle, I continued to marvel at Rosalie's explosive temper and immature outburst over something as silly as a game of cards. And she had the nerve to call me puerile.
"Did you hear us, son?" I blinked, pulled out of my internal musings to find them both staring intently at me. Carlisle repeated his comment, watching me decisively as he spoke.
"We think you should go after her."
A sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach slowly festered at his words. Why me?
"Are you sure that's the smartest idea? I mean, it is me she's upset with – it'll only make her angrier if you send me after her." Were they back to trying to push us together?
Carlisle lifted his chin, wordlessly reminding me of the finality of his decisions in our family.
Yes, you two need to learn to settle disputes between yourselves. Of course, we'll be here if you need us.
My eyes rolled unconsciously as I let out an exasperated sigh and turned towards the front door. I could hardly wait to deal with Rosalie's wrath on my own.
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated...thanks again to all of the great Twi-hards out there - it makes me feel so much better to know I'm not the only person out there who has a rather unhealthy obession with Edward! :)
