Chapter 3

"We're not gonna take it" (edited/extended version 2023)

Edward's POV

I slammed the door shut behind me and sat down with my back towards the door. Downstairs I could hear things breaking and raised voices, and I could hear Emmett and Esme arguing with Jasper, trying to calm him down. Soon they'd probably ask me to come downstairs to help them restrain him. That was usually how the cookie crumbled at this hour of the day. Just another day in paradise. I heard a knock upon my door.

"Edward, can I come in?", Alice asked, her voice beseeching. I cringed at the sound of it. I was so sick and tired of this goddamn "family".

"Just call on me when he gets too crazy and I'll come down and help you restrain him", I said reluctantly. " I always do", I mumbled to myself, knowing she'd hear me through the door. I could hear her sighing through the door.

"Edward, please. This situation is hard on all of us. Can I PLEASE come in? I'd like to talk to you. Edward, please?" Alice knew I couldn't say no to her. I stood up and opened the door to her, tiredly gesturing for her to come on in.

"So talk", I said and sat myself down on the edge of my bed, not meeting her eyes. I felt like a grouchy five-year-old acting this way towards Alice but I was beyond fed up with the situation. All I wanted was to try and be a normal teenager for once and maybe get a glimpse of what it would be like to live a normal life for the first time in ages. But that wasn't going to happen with Jasper in the house, acting like a raving lunatic and ready to snap at the slightest hint of human blood.

Alice sat down next to me, putting her hands in her lap. I could feel that she was trying to catch my eye and I reluctantly looked at her. "I'm sorry for how this is affecting you, Edward. I know you wanted to make a fresh start here in Forks. I know things are hard with Jasper being this way..."

"Hard? Hard?" I interrupted her, irritated by the way she seemed to think she knew how I felt about it. "Hard is an understatement. Ever since Jasper slipped up and drained that girl he's been in a total blood-craze, which we've all have had to endure for almost a year now. And I know you think you're helping him by giving him rations of human blood to help him endure school, but you're only prolonging his suffering. You are NOT helping him. I've tried to be helpful, but I'm fed up with coming home to this every day. I know he can't help himself but one person can't cast a shadow over six other people the way he does. I'm done, I'm really done. Either he goes or I go." I stared at her grimly, not letting my gaze drop.

Luckily the woman Jasper had attacked had been a sales woman passing through town with no ties to Forks, making the aftermath of her murder of lesser interest to the townsfolk of Forks. Still, Carlisle had too much of a conscience to just hide her body somewhere in the woods and blame the bears, as Rosalie and I had voted for doing. Instead he'd let them find her body sitting in the driver's seat of her car, a few miles out of town, in the opposite direction of where our house was so as to avoid suspicion. Nonetheless, the finding of a woman completely drained of blood wasn't exactly everyday news in Forks and the murder had been discussed for what seemed like a very long time afterwards. My family and I had spent the following months trying to act as normal as we possibly could. Well, as normal as a rich family of seven supermodels could possibly be in a small town in the middle of nowhere.

Alice looked at me with sad eyes, and I felt a sting of guilt, but I also knew I was entitled to feel what I was feeling. Alice was well aware of how much we'd all put up with from Jasper this past year and how all were reaching the limit, even though I was the one who most openly expressed it.

"It's not that easy, you know. Jasper is having a hard time and we can't let him down in his time of need, he needs us. I love him, you know, I can't just leave him, he's my soulmate..." She trailed off, not sure of how she should continue her argument.

"Well, I wouldn't know what that's like, now would I?" I interrupted her again. " And I'm not likely to know what that feels like if I stay in this dysfunctional family. You've all done a lot for me, and I am grateful for it, but I can't just stand around watching when Jasper is running amok while you're all doing nothing and letting him risk our whole existence. That's NOT fair."

Alice opened her mouth to say something, but halted and remained quiet.

"I know you love him and that you can't leave him, but he's not getting any better. You have to send him away, Alice", I said in a milder tone and took her hand, firmly squeezing it. "We can't all be living in Jasper's hell. We've been doing that long enough. He has to go away and fix himself before he can live with the rest of us. You know it's true."

Alice drew a deep breath and squeezed my hand back reassuringly. "I know, Edward, I know. I don't think I ever really believed he'd get better just with our help, not after his slip-up." I raised my eyebrow at her for calling Jasper's callous murder of an innocent woman a "slip-up" and she slightly shrugged at my remark, not knowing how to respond.

"He had a hard time even before that, and now he's out of control. I just didn't want to have to leave you all. I really love our family and the home we've created here. But I know Jasper and I can't stay here, not the way it is", she continued, looking pained by the thought of having to leave the home we'd spent the past two years creating together.

"You can stay here, Alice, but Jasper cannot", I said and looked at her firmly. "Jasper has got to figure this one out on his own, without your help. If he's ever going to get over his bloodlust it has to be by his own free will, you can't sugarcoat his life forever."

I took both her hands in mine and fixed my eyes upon her. I could tell she was on the brink of tears and I reached out to embrace her. She relaxed at my touch and she hugged me back, slightly sobbing.

"We're going to get through this together. This too shall pass", I mumbled and hugged her hard.

"I'll talk to Carlisle", she said in a low voice and then stood up. I nodded at her, not knowing what to say. She then proceeded to leave the room. I lay back on the bed and all the air went out of me. Was I ever going to be allowed to be a normal teenager?

Author's note

I'm well aware of the fact that Stephenie Meyer's vampires don't cry, but the ones in my story do from time to time. Deal with it! :)