Thanks to Sri, who noticed there was a bit too much staring going on. And also for quickly alerting me that the first post of this chapter had no breaks!

Thanks to Iris, who makes this readable and doesn't quit - even when I spell staring wrong every freaking time in the first draft.

Readers! You awesome people you! Thanks. (And to the guest reviewer, who asked; I think there's about 17 more chapters to go. Maybe more. Definitely not less.)

Edward contemplated calling Bella to tell her they'd found Mike but deferred the task to Alice. Bella had asked for her help after all.

He was frustrated.

Emmett had been right all along. He wasn't up to just being her friend. He'd be there for her, because not being there was worse. But the agreement to pull back from her? He didn't think he could follow through on that.

Bella was already waiting outside when Emmett pulled up. The headlights of her old truck caught her leaning against the column, arms crossed in front. Emmett didn't need the extra lights to see her, but he left them on to help her out.

He was already getting Mike out of his seat by the time Bella got to them. Emmett wasn't bothering to hide his speed or his strength. He hurled Mike over his shoulder.

"Thanks." She sounded meek and tired, and Emmett took pity on her. He wanted to make a wisecrack about the possibility of Mike puking down his back but left it alone. He followed her silently into the house. "Just put him on the couch. I'll take it from here."

"Bella, has this happened before?"

"I've nursed him through a few rough nights. It's been a while, but I've got it." Her voice was forced lightness, and her smile was fake. "Thanks so much for helping out. I hope it wasn't too much of a bother."

"Bella?"

"Yes, Emmett?" She sighed as she said his name. She was exhausted and embarrassed.

He pressed his lips together, thinking the better of what he was about to say. "Nothing." He shook his head as he walked away. He'd paid Edward back by keeping his mouth shut.

For now.

Edward could hear Alice's thoughts as he pulled up the lane. She was waiting for him in the garage. He knew this, because her thoughts were deliberately keeping him out. He wasn't sure he was ready for this. He still needed to talk to Carlisle, and he knew Emmett would be home soon and demanding his time.

You're going to tell me you don't want to talk, and I'm going to talk anyway, so you may as well listen.

"All right, Alice. What is it?" He pulled Emmett's jeep into the single empty space. He got out and leaned against the driver's door across from his sister, who was leaning against her Porsche. She was blocking him again.

"Why did she call us?"

That wasn't the question he was expecting.

"She was looking for you." He shrugged a single shoulder and looked away. The same question had been poking at his conscious, too.

"She called you. Looking for me. To look for her husband. They have other friends here, right?"

Again, he shrugged. His watched his foot run at an invisible scuff on the floor. Suddenly, Alice's face was there, looking up at him.

"I know you don't know what to do with this. I don't know how to help you. No matter what I try, I just can't see. I want you to be careful-"

"I know, Alice! I know!" Edward closed his eyes in exasperation. She was still there when he opened them. "Everyone keeps reminding me she's married, warning me off her-"

"Let me finish. I don't want you hurt." She put her hand on his arm. "So, of course, I want you to be careful. But, and I can't believe I'm saying this... I think you need to push it a little more."

He didn't expect Alice to suggest that.

"She's married."

"She is."

"He's good to her."

"He is."

"She's happy."

"Is she?"

Edward and Alice looked at each other. Neither said a word. Alice's mind whirled on, but she kept thoughts of Bella from it.

Their staring contest ended with the approach of Emmett barreling through the woods toward home.

"Go with him. Listen to what he has to say." And with that, Alice was gone.

Edward joined Emmett, and the two hunted in silence. Over their many years together, Emmett had learned to read his brother, even without the gifts his other brothers' possessed. He knew when to give Edward space and when to push him. He was usually right. He'd always thought he'd made a mistake letting his brother leave Bella. Jasper may have regretted being the one that set off the inevitable, but Emmett had also blamed himself in the years that followed. Watching his brother rip his own heart out had hurt Emmett more than he'd let on. Rosalie knew, which is why it was her suggestion they leave for a while.

But now, they were back, and he was sure his brother had another chance to make things right ‒ even if it was far more complicated than it was before.

They'd veered away from each other, each chasing their own prey. Now that they were satiated, they wandered back together. Emmett still said nothing, but he played back the evening: Mike passed out, Bella's composed reaction, their conversation by her door.

"What did you want to say to her?"

"A version of what I'm about to say to you." He halted, so Edward stopped with him. "You belong together. Mike's a complication, yes. And someone's going to get hurt, yes. No matter what, Bella's going to be breaking someone's heart." Emmett held his hands up in surrender as Edward growled. "It's not her fault. I'm not saying that. But that's just how it is. There's no way out of this without a heart being broken. But it sure as shit shouldn't be yours. I don't know how the two of you are resisting it. Actually, I don't think you are. Rose told me about your shopping trip. She said that you're still like magnets, moving together. Bella's a good girl. I don't know how she's going to end her marriage, but she should. And the longer she puts it off, the more hurt that's going to cause."

"I don't know what you're telling me to do here." Edward didn't argue. He didn't have it in him.

"Does she know she has options? Does she know how you feel?"

"Rose told me to keep that to myself."

Emmett was silent for a minute. He didn't like to speak against his wife. "Maybe she's right. She's smarter than me. That's for sure. Maybe you shouldn't lay it all down for her, and try and force her hand." Emmett reflected for a moment. "No, that'll never work. I think she's a frightened kitten. If you try and back her into a corner, she'll lash out."

"That's pretty much what I told Mike."

Emmett looked at Edward. "What's going on between those two? And why are you giving him advice?"

At that, Edward laughed. It wasn't a pleasant laugh, because Emmett had said something genuinely funny; it was the barking, maniacal laugh of a man on the edge. He settled down and filled his brother in on the issue in Bella's marriage, of his run in with Mike at the hospital.

"Sounds like Mike might be doing some of the hard part for you."

Again, Edward shrugged.

"Let him. And you may want to think of a way to let her know she's got options."

It was in the early hours of the morning when Edward pulled up outside of Forks Community Hospital. So far, Carlisle had kept his thoughts of Edward and Bella to himself, for which Edward had been grateful, but he needed Carlisle's opinion now.

His weekend had been consumed with memories of their time together. Interestingly, he didn't dwell on happy memories from long ago. It was their time together now that burned him. Every touch, every suggested word consumed him. He'd spent more time alone in the woods hunting this weekend than he'd probably had in the past few years combined.

But he wasn't just hunting. He was satisfying other hungers, as well. Each stolen glance of her breasts, the look of her garter's clasp pushing against her skirt ‒ so subtle that only vampire eyes would have noticed it ‒ the glasses. Oh, for all that is holy, those fucking glasses. He came undone over and over. Each time, he hoped it would lessen the want, but all it did was stoke his desire. He was bursting with need.

For now, he needed to talk to Carlisle about what he saw her do in the car. He had a theory about what was happening. He was sure his father had some ideas, as well.

It was a quiet night in the ER. Carlisle was in his office catching up on paperwork. Edward had called him earlier and asked to meet him. He was uncharacteristically late. This worried Carlisle, so it was a great relief when he sensed Edward coming down the hall.

He'd watched his son carefully this weekend. He'd leave for hours, only to return to pace restlessly around the house before leaving again. Carlisle went to follow him, but Jasper warned him off. He told him Edward needed to work through this on his own and wouldn't appreciate the company.

By Sunday night, Edward had seemed to settle down, and Carlisle wondered if knowing he would be with Bella in a few hours had anything to do with it.

He was glad Edward was here now, although he still wasn't sure how to advise him. Of course he wanted his son with his soulmate. He just didn't know how to deal with the fact that she was married. He tried to put himself in his son's place. What would he have done if he'd met Esme before she'd left her husband? Was it even the same thing?

"I don't want to have a 'she's married' chat. I've done that enough tonight." Edward said as he shut the door behind him.

Carlisle nodded. He'd let his son lead.

"I think her blocking me might be a gift," he started.

"We've always thought that."

"But it seems to be stronger now."

"I would agree with you, given how she affects Alice's visions."

"There's more." Edward paused, suddenly picking up on what Carlisle wasn't thinking. "You're keeping something from me."

"I am, because she asked me to. Please respect that."

Edward nodded. He was relieved Bella had gone to Carlisle. He trusted she was in good hands with him, and if there was something urgent, his father would take care of it.

"I told her about what it was like for me... I told her everything. And there was this moment... She looked devastated, as broken as I had been-"

"Do you think she's displaying empathic behaviour, too?" Carlisle didn't mean to interrupt, but he was too curious.

"No. I've seen through others what she looked like when I left. She looked like that... Just absolutely dejected, ruined. She was as destroyed as I was, Carlisle." He looked to his father, taking a moment to gather himself. "She was feeling it again. I saw it on her face. And then she put her hands to her heart," Edward mimicked the action, palms flat and pressing. "She screamed, 'No!' and then it all just vanished."

"She's repressing her emotions?"

"I think so." Edward practically whispered the response.

"Do you think she's consciously doing it?"

He shook his head.

"I think it's time to bring Eleazar down. I think she's gifted, and this could be a part of it."

Edward nodded. Carlisle had confirmed what he believed.

"What you know… Is it something I should worry about?" He trusted his father, but he was still Edward.

"I don't think it is, especially after what you've told me today. But Eleazar will be able to help with that also." Carlisle was surprised at the look of hope his son suddenly wore.

"What are you thinking, Edward?"

"If we're right about this... I think I have a chance."

Carlisle wanted to warn his son, but he couldn't. Because given everything he knew now, he thought Edward might be right.

Bella woke up to the smell of coffee. She got ready for work before heading downstairs. She was hoping to put off talking to Mike until she got home later. It didn't seem like she was going to get the luxury.

She came downstairs to find Mike sitting at the kitchen table, head in his hands, gazing at the steam as it rose from the mug in front of him. He looked at her as she walked through the room, but they said nothing to each other. She poured her own drink in her travel mug and was about to put on her shoes when Mike's voice called out roughly.

"Can you sit with me for a minute?"

She didn't reply but walked into the dining room. She leaned against the door frame facing him. She didn't sit down.

"Oh, so now you want to talk to me?" She wondered when it got so easy to speak to him this way.

Mike didn't take the bait. He took a quick sip of his coffee and then looked at his wife. "Why'd Emmett pick me up?"

"I had no idea where you were. I was worried about you. You weren't answering your phone. You're the one always warning me about being downtown at night, about being careful on my own in the store. I thought something had happened!" Bella wasn't keeping her voice down. She didn't know if Mike grimaced from regret or if it was just from the hangover.

"But why a Cullen?"

"Who else could I send?" In the heat of her anger, Bella came very close to saying too much about her choice to call the Cullens. She stopped before she revealed she'd needed their talents.

"You could have called Ben."

"I'm not calling there. I'm still so mad at them... and at you for thinking I don't know what I want. Besides, he has a family to look after." In trying to deflect Mike from the Cullens, she'd steered right into the heart of their problem.

"That's right. He has a family. Jacob has a family. All of our friends are home with their families." Mike had lost his calm facade. "But since that's not going to happen for me, I guess I can spend my nights doing whatever the fuck I want."

"Are you still drunk?" Bella spat out the question. She'd never seen Mike act the way he was right now.

He said nothing. His arms were crossed, and his sullen face stared at the wall. Bella was suddenly struck with the uncharitable thought that she already had a child in Mike. She didn't voice this.

"Mike, I love you. I do. But I think we need to really examine this. I'm not going to change my mind." He kicked the table leg. "I'm not. I didn't when you so beautifully explained to me what it meant to you. And I'm certainly not when you are having a temper tantrum at our kitchen table."

She knew what she wanted to say next, but she hesitated. She wasn't sure if she entirely meant it, if was it just her anger, or if she was really willing to consider it. She left that thought unspoken.

She opted to walk away from him instead. "I'm going to work," she called out from the front door. "Please come home sober tonight, so we can talk about this."