CHAPTER SEVEN.

RESOLUTIONS

Edward was waiting for me right outside the sliding glass doors at the front of the hospital. He was sitting on a bench, watching the roiling clouds, gently tapping a single finger on the metal arm with the exact repetition of a metronome.

"What are you doing here, brother?" I stalked past him and headed toward the parking lot. I got halfway across the emergency lane when I realized our two other siblings were likely still at school. "Where's the Volkswagen?"

"I didn't bring it," he said and caught up with me easily. I switched directions to head toward the road instead. There was easy access to the woods only a few blocks down. We could run to the house from there.

"How angry are they?" I asked. Edward didn't immediately answer and offered no other observations. His silence assured me that I was in for quite the battle once we arrived at the house. Where he stood on the matter wasn't clear so I let him keep his own counsel.

We crossed the street and walked just a little too swiftly toward the next intersection. Once we were through it, we turned right and proceeded down the block. A row of low, windowless storage buildings at the end gave us enough cover to flit into the woods unseen. Edward remained silent for the first part of the run, pacing me easily.

"Jasper is on the warpath," he finally broke the silence when we were about halfway home. "You're going to need a very good explanation for what happened."

There were plenty of good explanations, of course. For instance, say I hadn't interfered and the van had successfully crushed the girl – the thought made me sick, but I pushed through for argument's sake. If the van had hit her, she would have been a bloody, mangled mess on the pavement. I could imagine her fluids soaking into the pavement, the scent of her blood filling the air….

I wouldn't have been able to resist for even a second. A single drop of that girl's blood would have given our entire family up for what we are in a truly gruesome way. Imagine if there was enough blood flowing for Jasper to get involved? He had the least self-control of all of us.

It was a good argument that I wouldn't use. The point of it was moot because I didn't think of it until later, and Edward was already well aware of the fact. Honesty was always better anyway. I hated lying, nearly as much as I hated hurting Esme. Unfortunately, no matter what I did, Esme would be hurt in this situation. I wondered briefly who she'd side with, and simply hoped she wouldn't have to side with anyone.

Edward had been listening to my thoughts this whole time, naturally. Normally he was good about being discreet. He wouldn't comment unless the thoughts were intended for him. Since it wasn't something he could help, we did our best to normalize it. In turn, he did his best to keep our business to himself.

These thoughts of who would side with whom were enough to elicit a response, though.

"I'm not sure how the table will fall," he said. "But Jasper is concerned for Alice's safety. He's resolved to do what he must."

Resolved? What is he resolved about… It hit me at once. I slid to a halt. "WHAT?"

"Hey!" Edward shouted back. Rage consumed me as I pieced together the resolution Edward had implied. I had to find Jasper before he could get to the girl. He'd stayed at school, hopefully he had the sense to stay there until classes were over before he began the hunt, otherwise people could put together his absence with her disappearance.

I took off back towards Forks, intent on reaching the girl's house and watching to make sure no one else could approach. If I got there first, I could head him off before he got close. Lucky I had been able to get her address from Carlisle's files.

"Hold on!" Edward caught up with me and gripped my arm tightly. "You need to calm down! We don't know anything definitively, because we haven't had our family meeting yet, right? We can discuss this at the table."

I slowed to a stop and tried to calm myself down, but the rage kept boiling up.

"Brother," Edward said reassuringly. "Breathe."

Instead, I turned to a large embedded rock next to me, ripped it from the ground, and threw it hard at a small copse of trees several yards away. Two of the standing trees cracked on impact and fell over sideways.

"Jasper won't do anything until we all talk. You know this. He's too smart to make any rash decisions."

I took a deep breath and punched a tree behind Edward's left shoulder. It fell over with a cacophonous crash, but I felt calmer.

"What's gotten into you?" Edward asked in disbelief, looking around at the wreckage.

You should know, I thought pointedly.

He lifted his hands in a motion of uncertainty. "That doesn't mean I understand it."

I took a moment to consider his confusion. He would likely back Jasper if our family meeting wasn't able to diffuse the situation.

If the necessity arose, I could hold my own against one or the other of them in a fight, even with Edward's cheat, but not both at once. Jasper had spent so many years fighting in the southern wars that he was one of the most skilled combatants I knew. He was so skilled, in fact, that he could often out-maneuver my strength. Edward was harder because he could see an opponent's every move before they made it. To beat Edward in a fight one had to be quick and unpredictable.

God, and now I was strategizing about how to beat my own family if it came to a fight. Was I really already there? Was I willing to fight my brothers over a human I barely knew?

La had felt so tiny and fragile in my arms. My terror when she'd hit her head against my chin was an excellent example of how easily she could die from the slightest thing. That juxtaposition against my family of supernaturally strong predators was simply unfair.

I would absolutely fight for her. Even against my own family.

Edward's expression darkened as I came to this conclusion. It pained me to lose him, but I couldn't leave this girl undefended when I was the one that had put her in danger to begin with.

"You're a mess, Emmett," Edward spat. "We better get back."

As we ran back towards our home I continued to break down the possibilities. Edward and Jasper were clearly on one side of the table, and as I had already considered - I couldn't win a fight against the two of them together.

Would I be alone in this? Probably not.

Carlisle wouldn't fight anyone but he would undoubtedly be against Jasper's violent ideas. His caution and logic may be enough to keep this rift from turning ugly, but we'd have to see how resolved Jasper really was.

Esme would want to argue for whichever outcome would keep her family together. Her first priority would not consider the fallout, but whether her children would be safe. This infighting would be hard for her, so she would side with eliminating the problem simply because it would keep me close and our family whole. Where Carlisle was the great moral leader, Esme was the heart and soul. Carlisle's values gave us convictions we could follow willingly. Esme gave us a reason to stay - by teaching us to love.

Even under all this plotting and vengeful anger, I knew that I loved them. Even Jasper, who had incited all this fury. His actions were done out of love as well, because when it came to Alice's safety he took zero chances.

This brought me to the last member of our coven. Alice was difficult. Her love and dedication went as deep as Esme's, but it presented differently given her foresight granted her the ability to know how each decision would affect us. Her choice would probably depend largely on which side had the best outcome for the family in the long run.

All of this fell through my mind as we approached the house from the east. I could hear a set of steps running parallel to us on the left that sounded light enough to belong to Alice. Jasper didn't seem to be with her, which was a blessing. I didn't think I would have been able to control my anger in sight of him just yet.

"Jasper is already at the table with Esme," Edward confirmed for me. "Carlisle is on his way."

When we were about ten miles out I slowed my run to a more sedate pace to let Alice catch up. Edward bolted onward. As he disappeared into the woods ahead, Alice slipped through a space between two trees and took up the place he'd vacated.

"Wait," she said and came to a stop. I followed suit and watched her warily. She was rubbing her face again like she had a headache. She'd been doing a lot of that lately, but vampires didn't get receive pain the way humans did.

"What's up, munchkin?"

"The images are shifting so quickly it's getting harder to keep track of what may actually happen," she looked up at me seriously. "We can't fight. That can't happen, Emmett. I won't let it."

"Edward said Jasper was pretty sure of his course," I insisted.

"He is, but we may be able to convince him otherwise." Her little fingers returned to the pressure points above her eyebrows.

"How?"

"Carlisle has some ideas," she said and started walking toward the house. "I'm trying to keep track of them as he reasons them out, but Jasper's plans - and yours - keep changing so I'm having trouble finding the right path."

"Carlisle already knows what's going on?"

"Of course he does," she sighed and pulled a leaf off a fern tree nearby. She gripped the stem, pulled all the tiny leaves off in a swift motion, and tossed them into the air in front of her. They rained down like a glitter bomb. "Jasper called him, but he already had some concerns about it. He knows us all too well."

"Will he make it home in time?"

"Yes, he's pulling into the garage in about a minute and a half."

"We'd better get this over with, then."

"Emmett," she tugged my arm. "There are other options. We don't have to fight, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, but I didn't believe her.

"Just promise to give this mediation a chance?"

She was sent out to stall me. That's why she waited until Edward took off to join me on the run. It was probably for the best, but I wasn't happy about being manipulated.

"Yeah, kid. I promise."

Alice and I walked through the bright open living room directly into the dining room without hesitation. This room was only called a "dining room" for practicality's sake. We didn't actually eat - or rather drink - anything in here. Still, it contained a large oval-shaped mahogany table with matching chairs and a dry bar along one wall. It was important that we had all the logical props in place, even if the likelihood of a human ever seeing them was minimal.

Since it wasn't used for dining, Carlisle liked to use it for conferences and family meetings instead. We probably would have done better with a round table today, but I'd work with what was available.

Carlisle was seated in his usual place at the head of the table. Esme was seated to his right. They held hands on the tabletop; a united front. Esme watched me enter and choose the seat next to her. As I sat she gripped my shoulder reassuringly, but her lips were pressed together in concern.

Carlisle's face gave no indication of his thoughts. He was too practiced at dissembling to give anything away, but I was sure he had multiple plans in place for every possibility.

Jasper was seated at the other end of the table, arms crossed, face a calm veneer. Edward sat beside him looking frustrated and ill at ease. Alice followed me in, but didn't sit down. She leaned against the wall, eyes closed, rubbing her temples. Jasper watched her, but didn't ask her to sit.

My gaze flicked back and forth between the faces of my family members, not sure where to start.

Carlisle spoke up to give us direction. "Why don't we get all the facts out, first? Emmett, what happened in the parking lot?"

I described the accident in detail, leaving nothing out. Hearing myself say it made it sound even more reckless than it felt.

"I'm sorry," I finished. "I wasn't thinking and I put you all at risk. It was thoughtless and dangerous. I'll do whatever I can smooth everything out."

"Smooth it out?" Jasper retorted. "I think we're beyond smoothing. We need to fix this."

"Not like that," I said harshly. "I'm willing to leave if it will make things better." But not before I know that girl is safe, I added to myself.

"No," Esme said immediately. "No, Emmett."

I reached up to squeeze the hand that was still resting on my shoulder. "It's only a couple years."

"Leaving wouldn't help, anyway," Edward interjected. "You can't go anywhere, now. That would be the opposite of helpful. We have to make sure you're normalized before you disappear, otherwise it would be obvious we're trying to hide something."

"He's right, Emmett." Carlisle scratched his chin in thought. "The girl is more likely to ask questions if you disappear."

And if she tried to talk, Jasper would make sure it was impossible for her to.

"She won't," I said quickly. I needed to make this point very clear. "She won't say anything."

"We don't know that for sure," Carlisle disagreed.

"Edward, come on, man," I plead. "You're the one that noticed she didn't say anything after I took off on her last week."

"Yes, but that was a much smaller offense," he said. "You've already admitted that she saw everything this time. She knows that we're different now rather than suspects."

"Alice," I tried a different tack, hoping her foresight would be able to back me up.

"I can't see what will happen if we ignore this," she looked pointedly at Jasper.

"We can't risk the chance of the girl talking," Jasper said calmly. "Even if we all move, it's not safe for us to leave these types of stories behind us. If Italy catches wind of it they'll be all too happy to investigate, and if they do... there is nowhere on earth we can hide."

He looked directly at me. "And then she would be dead anyway."

A snarl threatened to leap out of my throat but I forced it down. "We've left stories behind us before."

"Rumors and suspicions are not eyewitnesses," Edward rebutted with false tranquility.

"It wouldn't be a big production," Jasper continued. "The girl hit her head, maybe her injury was more serious than it looked. I will make it look natural, leave no evidence behind me."

"Yes," the snarl finally escaped me. "We are all very aware of how skilled you are at murdering innocents, Jasper."

He turned cold eyes on me but remained silent.

"Emmett," Carlisle said calmly before I could come up with another outburst. "Calm yourself. I understand your concerns, Jasper, but I do not believe our friends in Italy would make the trek out here for one human. We are talking about ending the life of an innocent girl. This is not the same situation you faced in the South."

"It's not personal," Jasper said. "It's to protect all of us. Like I said, if Italy does decide one human is enough to investigate, this whole region will burn. Thousands of innocents could die."

His words echoed into impenetrable silence.