Edward wasn't dealing very well with the aftermath of his announcement. If the now overly-concerned expressions of his parents wasn't hard enough to deal with, Rosalie kept snarling at him as if Jake would hear it and, to quote her, 'back the fuck off'. Like she was now, soft growls escaping her every few minutes.

"Sorry,"he heard. Emmett, he would naturally feel responsible for the actions of his mate.

Edward shrugged to show that he didn't mind. Anyone could tell it was a lie, but it wasn't Emmett's fault, and he didn't need any burden greater than those Rosalie would place on him – convince Edward to stop listening to the boy; get Edward back to his old self; find the boy and get rid of him. Things Rosalie was surely telling her mate because she wanted her brother back, and Edward wasn't doing his duty.

He was preoccupied with Jake. He lay on the floor now, thumbing a book, Ultimate Mandarin, in an effort to distract himself by learning a new language. He knew several; he had time and startlingly little to do at the Volterra.

He could practically hear Aro chiding him for not being more active in Forks; doing more; learning more; exploiting this opportunity to live amongst humans as Aro would have surely done.

Edward smiled softly to himself. He missed his other family, as dysfunctional as they might have been. The months passed quickly, and although he knew they wouldn't think so, that this probably felt like a simple moment to them, Edward did feel it. Now, he could hear Caius scoffing at his sentimentality.

"Alice," he looked up to the girl, who was learning the language with him because they could, and said, "Nee hao mah?"

"Ni hao ma, Edward," Alice rolled her eyes. "Why're you learning Mandarin anyway? You're terrible at languages."

"I'm not."

Jasper laughed. "Alice is going to bring up the Fiasco of the Spanish in the 70's."

Edward scowled. "In my defence-"

Alice was the one to laugh this time. "You have no defence, Edward."

His scowl morphed to something more like a pout. "I didn't know chinga was a curse."

"A five year old on the streets could've told you that much," Rosalie said from her position curled on Emmett's body. Emmett himself kept silent, but the grin on his face spoke more than Edward cared for.

"Key words being 'on the streets'," Edward said, raising himself to lean on his elbows, book falling carelessly. "It's not like they were going to teach me curse words, those people were royal." Even Rosalie had to snort at that.

"It was an absolute disaster," Alice said, shaking her head and grinning.

Edward let himself flop back down. There was no arguing here, he was outnumbered.

But the small conversation had broken whatever tension stifling the room, and when Esme entered half an hour later, Alice was giggling over Edward's pronunciation of random words, Rosalie was fluently reading out every word that remotely resembled a curse, Emmett was helping her by using them in sentences, and Jasper was trying to control his laughter. It was a sight she didn't get to see often.

"Cago," Rosalie said loudly.

Emmett thought, then grinned. "Cago en tu leche."

It translated to something like, 'I shit in your milk'. Esme wasn't too sure and she didn't particularly want to find out. Catching sight of her, Jasper stilled, and Rosalie quickly shut the book, throwing it at Edward's head. Edward caught it on reflex, letting out a smug, 'Hah,' at Rosalie.

"Children," Esme said warningly. They still acted like children, of course. "You've got school in an hour, make sure you bring all the cookies and cupcakes and everything else that's cluttering my home, got it?"

Alice nodded, representing the group. "I'm bringing half the gingerbread men, they're packed in the yellow boxes, Rosalie's bringing the other half. Jasper's taking care of the gingerbread women, who're in red boxes. Emmett's bringing the gingerbread kids, who're in," she paused, thinking, "blue boxes. He's also taking most the cupcakes, which are in the green boxes, and Edward's taking the rest, and he's bringing the clothes and the sign we made and you and Carlisle will bring the tables and stuff." She breathed in unnecessarily then.

"That's all?" Esme confirmed, and Alice nodded the affirmative. "Excellent, then you guys can start preparing for school proper."

Emmett groaned.

"Like a child," Alice muttered, and Rosalie's head turned to glare at her.

"Hypocrite," she snapped.

"Break it up, you two," Esme said, stepping between them and effectively blocking their view of each other. "Get yourselves together, get ready, get going."

Considering the fact that they were vampires –which gave them the attached super speed and agility and lack of sleep and thus, extra time— Edward would have assumed that it would take less time for them to get ready for school. But some things, he thought, didn't change; vampire or mortal.

For one, Rosalie still hogged the bathroom and took over an hour to fix her hair and makeup; Alice still flitted about arranging the outfits so that they looked good; Emmett still lazed about even though he didn't need extra minutes of sleep to survive the day, week, eternity. Jasper was the only one continuously ready on time, sitting on one of the stools in the kitchen, making soft chatter with Esme and she went about doing whatever she did in the morning.

"Edward, how're you feeling?" Carlisle's voice startled him out of his contemplations.

"Uh," Edward said, then shook his head. "Sorry, I'm fine," and continued, because Carlisle deserved more honesty than that from him. "A little overwhelmed, maybe, but I'll handle it just fine. You need not worry." He paused, then snatching a few phrases from Carlisle, added, "Perhaps you could also tell Esme not to needlessly worry?"

Carlisle grinned. "She's your mother, it's her duty to worry. She's probably happier for all her worrying." Then his grin faded. "You do know that whatever might happen, Edward, we're your family. Whatever might be happening with this boy and these voices-" Edward tried to stifle the rising guilt in him at not telling Carlisle –his friend, confidant, father, and not necessarily in that order—the full truth. "Whatever it is, you don't need to deal with it alone. That's what families are for, or so I hear," he added with a small laugh.

"I know, but…" he trailed off, unsure how to phrase his thoughts while making it clear he meant no offence. "I feel as if this is a matter I need to manage myself. I know that whatever it is, it will most likely affect everyone, but until then-"

Carlisle raised his hands. "You need not explain."

"But I do," Edward said loudly, sitting down on the couch, and Carlisle sat on the head of the couch next to him. His nearness calmed Edward slightly, as if Carlisle too had Jasper's abilities.

He bit his lip, and Carlisle sat without speaking while Edward phrased the whirlwind of thoughts in his mind. Below them, he could hear the rest of the family preparing for the day ahead, and his mind narrowed onto the soft talk between Jasper and Esme.

"Remember back when you changed Esme, after that?" Edward asked suddenly.

Carlisle frowned, nodding slowly. "It's not the sort of thing a person simply forgets, Edward. You-" "Left us. Left me. Abandoned me."The words were not spoken, because Carlisle was too kind to say them. But he knew Edward would hear them. If Edward could feel his emotions as well, he knew what the words would bring with them: betrayal, anger, disappointment. An absolute turmoil with a sense of loss tingeing it all.

"I didn't want Esme to be a vampire," Edward continued, not showing just how much the unsaid words wounded.

"No," Carlisle said flatly. They had never become comfortable speaking of that particular incident. "You didn't want Esme at all."

Edward nodded. "But you kept Esme anyway, because you already knew that she was your mate and-" he took in a deep breath. He didn't want to tell Carlisle that he knew he came second to Carlisle, even if he were the first to be Turned. He didn't need to either, because Carlisle already knew.

Things left unsaid but heard by both.

Edward felt Carlisle's hand come to rest on his shoulder, wondering if it was in apology. He let it be. "You wanted Esme, even though everyone-" only Edward, but Edward had been everyone at that point in their lives, "said otherwise. You knew that some actions needed to be taken, did you not?"

Carlisle hesitated before nodding. "I only wanted the best for us, and I knew that she would be it."

Edward nodded along understandingly. "You did it alone, Carlisle." He looked up at his friend. "I could have been there for you, but you didn't want me to be there-"

"You left us," Carlisle said, and Edward could hear the anger in his tone, drawn out by hurt more than anything, he'd guess. He didn't need to be Jasper, he just needed to know his friend. Carlisle looked like the picture of calm, though.

"All you had to do was ask," Edward said evenly. "You didn't, and as it was I returned when things had settled. Everything." On both ends.

Carlisle turned his head away for a moment, thinking, and Edward allowed him that privacy. Then he sighed, a weary sound that, just for a moment, reflected his true age. "Things needed to be done, Edward, and you couldn't be there for these things to happen."

"I know," Edward said quickly. "I don't blame you for that, not at all. Just like that, though," he changed the subject before things could become even more awkward, "things need to be done with me. I just feel like, like, they won't happen if I let other people come into it."

He slumped into the seat, feeling as if he had given a thoroughly inadequate explanation. Carlisle's grip on his shoulder tightened. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Carlisle spoke again, "I might not understand your decisions, Edward," Edward almost snorted at that, Carlisle hadn't understood most of the decisions Edward made, "but I've helped you through them anyway," he continued, as if hearing Edward's thoughts for a change.

Edward looked up, cocking his head. "Yes," he agreed slowly.

Carlisle smiled. "I don't need your power to know what you're thinking. So, while I might not understand your walking alone for this one, I have enough respect for you to allow you to do so."

Edward thought he might crack something as his grin widened. "You do?"

Carlisle laughed, ruffling his hair, and Edward ducked out of his grip. Carlisle, though, had years of practice at this, and only moved with him, hands threading through his hair. "And if all ends in tears and, well, rubbish, really, then I'll be here anyway, got it? You can't be running away from your family here and to the Volturi every time, after all."

Edward's grin still didn't falter, and when he moved to hug Carlisle, the man only held him, like he had when Edward had returned from his stint of feeding of humans, and from his first visit to the Volterra, and every time he chose to leave his family.

"At times, you're a complete clotpole," Carlisle muttered, losing all the collected composure he usually held.

Edward laughed softly at the strange curses that Carlisle let loose if they ever did. He breathed in, solely to take in that familiar scent of Carlisle. "And you're a, what was it, a rampollion?"

"Rampallion," Carlisle corrected, moving back, wearing a grin. "Harpy."

"Jolthead," Edward retorted, digging up every insult they'd thrown in the past. The long-ago past.

"Miscreant," Carlisle said quickly, pulling him as they stood.

"Ruffian," Edward said, then stopped. "No, that doesn't work at all, how about, barnacle?"

Carlisle sniggered. "Did Aro teach you that one?"

"Caius, actually," Edward grinned. "Scat."

"Wagtail."

"You're a greasy rabbit-sucker."

"If so, you're a quailing, boil-brained lewdster."

"Villainous, clay-brained, fool," Edward said, fast running out of insults. He'd forgotten them; lack of practice. Caius would be disappointed.

"Fool's from the wrong time period, you roguish, half-faced, raw-boned, dizzy-eyed strumpet," Carlisle said smoothly.

"You have an unfair advantage of actually having been born in that time period," Edward said, falling into a familiar argument.

"It's a pity yours doesn't have anything as outstanding as mine," Carlisle said, voice amused and not at all sympathetic. "I guess I really am superior in just about every manner."

"Oh, fuck off," Edward said, using the one word the new generation had normalized.

Carlisle made a face. "That's an ugly word."

"Curses are supposed to be ugly words, that's why they're curses," Edward grinned. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity, fuck." Carlisle pushed him slightly, and Edward laughed. "How could you be uncomfortable with one word considering you work in a hospital?"

Carlisle's brow rose. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's a hospital, don't people tend to curse when they're in pain?"

Carlisle shrugged. "By the time they get to me, they're usually in no condition to be talking." He sounded so factual about it that Edward couldn't help but laugh again. "Flap-dragon," he added. "Sounds so much more sensible a curse."

Only Carlisle would think so. And Aro, but they were both oddities amongst vampires in some way.

"Tottering varlot," Edward fired back. They were still exchanging curses upon entering the living room, Rosalie and Emmett watching them with some disbelieve before Rosalie shook her head at Carlisle's, "Rank full-gorged bladder."

"And they call me the childish one," she said loudly, only to be ignored by both of them.

Esme only smiled exasperatedly. "Both of you are loggerheaded, droning whipsters. Now, might we please go on to school," she pressed Edward's bag into his hands, "and work," she kissed Carlisle on the cheek lightly. "Now."

They obeyed, but before Edward closed the door of his car to leave, he heard Carlisle's parting, "Vain, hasty-witted scut."

Alice was a host. She knew how to flatter, and charm, and act like everybody's friend. She could sell someone a boy a batch of cookies by making it necessary for him to give them to his girlfriend while quilting said girlfriend into buying a Gingerbread Child for them both. It was a gift and she fully exploited it throughout the afternoon while selling their products.

Edward was talking to a girl with blond hair, and his ability was quite useful at this point. "Huh, I don't want to put on any weight though-" A mom screaming that if she, Lindsay Anne Dumont gained any more weight she would be disgusted. "Yeah, definitely keep the weight down. Just look at these bloody biscuits, even if it is Edward Cullen selling them-"Another advantage was his appearance, apparently. Something all of them were making use of. Rosalie, in particular, was surrounded by half the sports teams' members, Emmett attending to the girls of the Library society in the next booth.

"Don't worry about anything in these," Edward smiled. "Alice has this recipe that makes sure that she doesn't put on weight eating these, I tell her not to be paranoid about this stuff, but she worries." And that was all it took –along with another suitably charming smile—before the girl was walking away to her group of fellow giggling blondes, leaving Edward clutching a few coupons for twenty dollars.

He waved at Carlisle, who was walking around selling their cupcakes. Esme would be inside the building, he guessed, selling their Gingerbread Men. He gave the coupons to Jasper, who gave him another box of Gingerbreads. They had a steady routine going on here, coupled with a steady flow of coupons.

When he turned back, another girl had taken the place of the last one, a brunette this time, and Edward tried to make his smile look more natural. He heard her name in the thoughts of the friend standing next to her, along with a few other details that he stored, and quickly said. "Hi, Mary-Anne, right? From my math class."

Mary-Anne flushed. "He knows my name, oh gosh."She seemed like a nice enough girl. "Hey, Edward," she said shyly. "Uh, your family's selling some cupcakes, right?" She pulled something in her hand and a smaller figure popped up next to her. "My younger sister, Jessica, she'd like some."

Edward looked down at the small head. "Hello, Jessica," he said, grinning as he stooped to look at the girl. "Now, how old are you?"

The girl grinned right back, but with an innocence that he'd lost too long ago. "Six," she said, proudly.

"And you want cupcakes?" he confirmed.

She nodded, pointing at a bright pink one. "That one first." Edward nodded, picking it up tenderly before holding it out to her.

"Do you want it in a box or do you want to eat it straight?" he asked.

Mary-Anne frowned slightly. "I don't know, maybe we should just grab a couple-"

"He's asking me," Jessica said, letting go of her sister's hand to grab the pink cupcake. "I want five more," she said, biting into the pink cupcake and making a thorough mess of her mouth.

Edward stifled his laugh, selecting five more similarly colored cupcakes and storing them in neat actions, the box itself pink. He held it out, "Six lovely cupcakes for a lovelier six-year-old," he said, bowing slightly as the girl laughed.

Mary-Anne was smiling even as she attempted to –and failed—to clean her sister. "Thanks, Edward." Edward shrugged and smiled as they walked away. "Great, now she won't be screaming half the day which means Mom won't be screaming the whole day."Edward tried not to frown. Families were strange, causing pain and tears where they shouldn't.

"You probably know more about her now than you did sitting in the same classroom for the past few months, right?" Jasper asked.

Edward looked at him. "Yes, and I do so wish I hadn't."

"I'm such a good friend, sometimes." A contemplative sigh. "Even with all this weirdness going on, do I ditch on my friend? No, I come with her to help her stupid school. It's not even like I've got that much cash to spare."

Edward froze. He was here. His Jake was here.

"Edward?" Jasper said his name, and it sounded as if he'd already called him a few times.

Edward turned quickly. "He's here."

It seemed that every Cullen around was shamelessly eavesdropping, for they all turned at the statement, abandoning their duties and customers. "Where is that mutt?" Rosalie muttered, eyes shifting around. Emmett came up behind her, nodding in agreement, also scanning the crowd.

Then he frowned, breathing in. "Hey, do you smell that?"

He focused. Cupcakes, sweets, chocolates, sweat, trees, perfume, spices- The scents were quickly overwhelming him and he stopped, wincing. He saw Jasper do the same, already facing difficulty with his ability in the crowd –which was why he was left keeping track of the coupons at the back—and Alice turn back to her job, shrugging apologetically. He nodded in understanding. Rosalie groaned.

"What is it?" Edward asked.

Emmett was tense. "Shifters. Quite a lot of them."

Edward frowned. He hadn't scented anything- Woods.Of course. He had scented them, but he'd been searching for a different scent; the scent vampires were supposed to smell around shape-shifters. He was different; his bond or whatever it was called with Jake made the scents different.

Alice turned back and whispered, low enough so the humans wouldn't overhear. "I can't see a lot of people. They're definitely here."

Rosalie's teeth were clenched, fisting and un-fisting her hands. Emmett laid his hands on her shoulders, rubbing soothingly. "Don't worry, they can't do anything. Too many people."

"Leeches. Gods, they're stinking up the whole place." Tanned skin of a group of people walking into the school entrance. Bella walking towards them, smiling softly. "Bella should be warned- no, Sam would kill me. But I could make it subtle."

Edward tried not to let his panic show. His family was already being quite accommodating with his issue of hearing Jake's thoughts. His being a shape-shifter might push them over the edge. "Edward, calm down," Jasper snapped. He was looking a little harried himself; the shape-shifters were setting them all on the edge, if for completely different reasons.

"If they come here-" Rosalie snarled.

"They're probably here because they have friends here," Edward reasoned. It sounded logical. It sounded as if he didn't know the situation first-hand, as if he wasn't hearing Jake think about Bella pleading with all of them to attend the fundraiser. "If they come to our stall, well, I don't think they'd be doing it willingly in the first place. So don't provoke them." He stared pointedly at Rosalie. "Do not start a fight. Not here."

She didn't say or do anything for a long while before nodding jerkily. "Fine." She wasn't pleased with the situation, but who amongst them was? She turned back to the boys, who'd been waiting patiently. Anything for her, of course.

Emmett rolled his shoulders. "I don't like this," he muttered. "We're not supposed to be so close. It's just- it's fucking wrong."

Edward tried not to wince.

Jasper was looking at him curiously, and he shook his head. "Let's just finish this," Edward said, turning back to the next girl in line.

"Christ, would Leah stop fucking complaining? As if any of us like the stench any more than she does. Great, Bella's dad. Probably writing wedding invitations in his head: Isabella Swan weds Jacob Black. That sounds sick."

"-the green one with the black symbols, and that red one, please," the girl said.

Edward didn't know her name, barely smiling as he went through the routine of taking the cupcakes and packaging them. He took the coupons, mumbling what he hoped sounded like, 'thanks,' and slipped it to Jasper.

"You're not yourself," Jasper said. "The boy, he's-"

"Oh god, please let her be joking. Please, dear gods. No, no, no, I might throw up. Dr. Leech? I've got to meet this guy?" Bella walking towards Carlisle, holding Jake's arm. "Even he doesn't look so happy about this."

Jake was meeting his parents and they hadn't even met. Edward tried not to groan out loud, but something in his expression must have shown his displeasure, because there was immediately a rush of thought in the girl before him, worry and self-consciousness coming forward in absolute unwarranted detail. Edward tried to smile a little brighter, practically shoving the box into her hands. "Enjoy," he said, turning again to give Jasper the coupons.

Jasper was pale. "Edward, what's-"

"For your own sake, do not concentrate on what I feel like right now," Edward snapped, ignoring Alice's glance –whether it was concern for him or displeasure of his tone he didn't know, and didn't care at this point.

"I can't believe I have to talk to a blood sucking creature like it's a human, and a good one too the way Bella keeps gushing." Desperation tinging his tone. "They've abandoned me. My brothers, my family, the fucking cowards. I'm going to kill them all later. Slowly. Yes, challenge all of them, screw Sam, this is just-" Screaming."

Edward scowled at the noise. Jake wasn't happy with the situation, and he couldn't imagine what Carlisle would be feeling. "Thanks," the girl before him said brightly, and he didn't bother smiling in return.

"His wife, of course. Does she have to smile like that? If you didn't know, you'd almost think she was normal. As though she doesn't want to kill all of us, monsters, all of them-"

The insults weren't being held back. Edward wasn't sure if he wanted to listen – he was torn between some unexplainable attachment to Jake and complete love for his parents, and the fact that he was torn to begin with, not in full support of his family, was hurting. He clenched his fists, breathing in deeply.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned back. Rosalie. "Go take a break," she said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you look worse than I feel at all this. Just go."

Edward couldn't even thank her, just stumbled to the back, past Jasper –barely registering the wave of calm— walking even further to the school. He stopped.

"-going to kill me. I'm talking to leeches. Actually talking to them about bloody school." Slightly hysterical laughter. "They're all going to kill me. They don't care about me. I can't stand them. Bella, for all that is good in this world, let me go." Fingers wrapped tightly around an arm. "If not for the fact that I don't want to break her fingers, I swear-"

Edward walked right past the entrance and went through the side. He went past the cafeteria, feeling the eyes on him, then past the field. Building 7. Politics. Blissfully empty.

He slipped in and closed the door behind him, then sank to the floor.

Edward closed his eyes, letting his elbows rest on his knees, hands tugging at his hair. The sounds behind him were muffled; the thoughts of people everywhere behind a physical barrier that somehow became more significant.

"Thank you, Bella. Wait, no, no, too many leeches. Do they actually have a stall? I can't fucking believe it. They're parasites. They want to feed on every person here and they're feeding them instead? What, they're keeping them nice and plump? Like Hansel and Gretel except they use themselves as bait."

He was very thankful suddenly for having left the stall. He didn't think he'd have been able to survive knowing that Jake was there. He still didn't know what exactly his boy looked like, or sounded like in reality, or his precise scent, or- it didn't matter. Edward wouldn't have been able to deal with it. That much he knew.

Edward suddenly found himself looking at his family from a different set of eyes. From a boy who detested them. It wasn't a common situation. They looked as they usually did, but, somehow, worse. Jake's mind was already twisting the image.

The stall looked darker than it usually did. Rosalie's beautiful face sporting her usual smirk. Now, she looked cruel, vengeful. Emmett's easy smile looked deceitful, his large hands dangerous as they sorted through different cookies. The scars on Jasper's face stood out with jarring sharpness. Alice's petite form, even, looked poised to attack. Everything the same, but Jake didn't like them, and his mind was a reflection of that.

"There's one missing."

It had never occurred to Edward that Jake knew of his existence beyond 'leech' or 'parasite' or any of the insults he flung so easily at his family. That he knew them as separate entities.

"When's Bella gonna realize I don't care about these things? These- can't even call them people. Who the hell cares if Edward freaking Cullen likes her? Fuck, somebody save me." Jake had said his name. Edward felt like letting out a sigh, or something equally girlish. Because Jake knew him, knew his name.

Edward knew he was smiling, even if Jake didn't like him. Because knowing was the first step, or so he convinced himself. The rest would follow. Somehow.

"Of course, my friend likes the leech. Like every single girl around here. I never thought I'd be grateful for Leah till now. At least she has the sense to keep to the right people. Okay, now buy the bloody cookies and leave- no, can't believe she's making me pay for these. I'm funding a pack of-"

Edward cut him off because Jake tended to get repetitive with his insults. There were only so many ways to phrase 'blood-sucker' before it became bothersome. He wondered how much pain Rosalie had to be in, standing next to a shape-shifter without being allowed to lunge and claw and show exactly how much she hated their kind. Emmett, he thought, would be holding her back, and Jasper would be sending so much calm in her direction that even Jake had to be feeling the effects.

He was. His thoughts were mellower. Not calm, or happy. But less vicious.

"Now we're off, please, let me leave. I'm only here to donate and leave. Sam. Save me, Sam." A yell. "I wish we could do the mind-link thing in human form." Sudden laughter. "Great, now Bella thinks I'm crazy for laughing to myself and I know Quil would be disgusted that I bought Gingerbread Men from the leeches. Don't taste half-bad, though."

Edward laughed, the sound echoing off the white walls of the empty corridor. To imagine, a shape-shifter eating the food of a vampire. He didn't think he'd ever see the sight. Or hear it, as the situation were.

Jake was moving further away though. He couldn't hear distance or anything, but he knew the fact for what it was.

Edward stood slowly, opening the door and walking out, moving quickly through the swarm of people to reach the stall once again. He walked in, and Jasper glanced up. "You're better," he said, and nodded approvingly. "You missed something quite exciting."

He raised a brow. "Oh?"

Rosalie turned to him. "Yeah, it was a whole lot of fucking fun," she growled. "I had to talk to a shape-shifter." She was still smart enough to stay quiet, though.

"You mean talk at," Alice interrupted, smiling. She was more amused than disgusted by the situation. Rosalie's little predicament overpowered any annoyance she felt at the shifter's presence at her precious stall. "You snapped so hard I thought you might break something."

Jasper smiled as Rosalie snarled. "He was right there. The smell was-" she shuddered.

Emmett came up, kissing her on the cheek. He had the most sensitive sense of smell amongst all of them. "I know, babe. Don't worry, we'll go home and take a nice long bath to get rid of it." He slipped his arms around her waist, kissing along her shoulder, and she couldn't resist her smile.

Edward thought that they would be doing far more than just bathing later on, and made a mental note to keep clear of their minds for the rest of the day. Some things he really did not need to overhear.

"How's your boy anyway?" Emmett asked, looking up at him.

Edward shrugged. "Fine."

"Then your little freak-out session?" Rosalie asked bluntly.

"It was getting quite loud," Edward said honestly. "He was around; the nearness must have made it sharper or something. I could hardly block him out."

Rosalie looked at him for a while longer, suspicious, then allowed it. "Whatever, I can't take the little girls. I'll go back to my guys; you handle the gals who come around." As if on cue, a girl walked to the stall, two braids making her look younger than she probably was. Rosalie smirked. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, especially not when it borders on pedophilia."

Emmett let out a bark of laughter and Edward rolled his eyes. "You disgust me," he said loudly, turning back to the girl.

"Great, and now we're out of here." A view of the school entrance."The girl smiled widely, showing off her practically sparkling braces. "Just three, please, any will do, just no chocolate icing."

Edward smiled, taking three cupcakes and packing them easily. "Here you go, and thank you very much," he added as he took the coupons from her.

The girl blushed and turned.

Jake was leaving, and Edward didn't know whether he was more relieved or upset. Both. He wanted Jake around. Even while he was panicking, he felt something –if he were alive, he would say his heart had sped up, but it was grander. It was as if he could feel warmth again. But it wasn't worth it. Worth the worry of having his family puzzle the pieces together and watch them fit together to form everything stupid and dangerous-

"Hi, could I have two? One purple, one blue." This girl was older than his human form, but she smiled with flirtatiousness all the same.

"Of course," Edward said, picking out the cakes.

"You're Edward Cullen, right?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," Edward said.

"I'm Amy," she introduced herself. "Thanks," she said as Edward passed her the box, not even glancing at it. "You know, we're having a little party later, at the beach, near the shacks." He knew what she meant, and already guessed her purpose for coming up to the stall, but could only hope that she wouldn't ask- "You can come if you want, bring your family."

Said family was staring at the exchange without shame, Alice looking on with a fond smile and Rosalie like- well, Edward was preparing himself for the mocking of a century when they went back home. Or maybe earlier; Rosalie found it difficult to control her mouth sometimes.

"Maybe," he said simply. "I'm not sure if we'll be able to, we have to finish up here and check with our parents and all."

Amy looked disappointed. "Oh," she brightened quickly though, "well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me." She walked away to her group of friends, who started talking almost immediately, leaving Edward in no doubt of the subject of their conversation. And there was the fact that they kept turning back to look at him.

"Got yourself a girl, Edward?" Rosalie asked. "Found your mate, oh, I can see it. Edward and Amy, a romantic wedding at the beach-"

"Shut up," Edward said, resisting the urge to throw something at her. The only things he had were cupcakes and Alice would kill him if he ruined any.

Rosalie only laughed.

"Edward's found his soul mate," Rosalie announced to Carlisle and Esme. Then she paused. "Were you talking about those shape-shifters?"

Carlisle nodded. "I had the strange experience of speaking to one today, with Isabella Swan, an old patient of mine. But what is this about Edward's mate?"

"She's just joking," Edward bit out, glaring half-heartedly as he dropped onto the couch next to Carlisle, letting his head drop on the blond man's shoulder. "I hate girls."

"Why, cause we have cooties?" Alice teased.

Edward groaned, and Carlisle let out a soft chuckle. "Sounds like you've had a hard day."

Edward groaned again. "There were all these girls, and they were all thinking the same things. Half of them aren't even going to eat their cupcakes, they're all on bloody diets. And after Amy-"

Rosalie let out a drawn-out, "Ooh. Edward remembers her name, does he?"

"That's a sign," Emmett said loudly. "Edward never remembers people unless they're important. He's in lurve," he let his tongue curl around the word. "You'd better invite us to the wedding, bro. I'll be your best man-"

Edward threw a pillow at him. He caught it easily and sat down, pulling Rosalie onto his lap. "I hate all of you," Edward said pathetically.

Alice bent down to kiss him on the forehead. "Don't worry." She straightened, moving away. "I'll take care of all the wedding arrangements myself, you won't have to lift a finger," the traitor said giggling.

Carlisle chuckled, the traitor. "You were saying, after Amy?" Esme prompted.

Edward mumbled something into Carlisle's shoulder, not looking up. "I'm sorry?" Carlisle asked.

"They kept asking me out," Edward whined.

Carlisle laughed at that. "Shouldn't you be used to that?"

"They're not usually so forthcoming about their attentions," Edward said frowning. "It's like the spirit of the occasion or some other rubbish got into them."

"You weren't rude, were you?" Esme asked. Her concern was not misguided, considering Rosalie wouldn't have bothered with politeness, Emmett would have laughed at their faces, Jasper would have let them down with a cutting politeness and Alice would have been gentle, if mocking.

"No," Edward assured her.

"Barely," Alice added unhelpfully from the floor. "He was losing it by the time we finished. There was a gaggle of girls standing while we were closing up. Some of them were actually quite pretty."

"But none as much as Ay-Mee," Rosalie said.

"Amy was Edward's first, she was special," Jasper said solemnly.

"I hate all of you," Edward said, ignored by all except Carlisle, who patted his shoulder comfortingly. Of course, he laughed a moment after, almost forfeiting the gesture. "I would've taken shifters over them any day."

There was more laughter, but Edward felt Carlisle tense under him. "Speaking of shifters, Edward, we need to talk later. Away from prying ears."Edward didn't move at the words in Carlisle's mind, but it was mostly because he was frozen with something more than shock. Fear, perhaps.

"Edward, are you okay?"he heard Jasper.

He turned, and nodded once. They both knew what that meant. He wasn't, but he couldn't talk about it just yet.

"So, you actually spoke to a shifter?" Alice asked, drawing her knees to her chest, listening as intently as any child would a bed-time story. Edward wondered if this one would have the vampire kill the shape-shifter and have them all live happily ever after.

"Yes, Isabella Swan-"

Rosalie frowned. "What does she have to do with shifters?"

"She's friends with one," Carlisle said casually, and Edward wondered if anyone else noticed that he hadn't specified which one. No, they were too caught up in the story. "He looked quite sickened, actually. Well, the scent was quite strong, but he was polite, and obviously a loyal friend, if he was willing to approach a vampire for a friend's sake."

"Of course, you'd compliment it," Emmett said, grinning. "You're too nice, Carlisle, really."

Carlisle shrugged. "I can't imagine that they're all that terrible when they aren't intent on ripping us to shreds."

"It's the 'ripping us to shreds' bit that we're worried about," Jasper said with some amusement.

Alice was looking worried. "He didn't say anything to you, though, did he? Threaten you or anything?"

"No, no," Esme assured her. "Nothing of that sort. He kept his calm. He was quite nice about all of it actually. I was pleasantly surprised by his behavior." Except that he was having a mental breakdown in his mind, Edward wanted to add. He didn't of course. He wasn't a fool.

Alice frowned. "I still don't like them," she said sullenly; childishly.

"They make you go black, of course you don't," Edward said, meaning it as a joke, but it took half a second too long for Alice to smile at him. He wanted to search her mind then, but the first slide of thoughts was a loud, "You don't mean something, yet nothing to me. I can see there's so much to learn. It's all so close, and yet so far-"Tarzan it was, then.

They dispersed then, and Edward didn't think about the short moment.

Carlisle was still there, and Edward calmed, stopping the short flows of breath that he needed to take while pretending to be human. "You know," Edward said suddenly, "I sometimes think that we forget that we all started human."

Carlisle's mind does not register any real surprise; he knows this all too well. Aro used to tell him, "Vampires and humans, any sort of ill sentiment we share with one another, I believe that it is completely natural." Aro had actually given it serious thought when Edward had expressed concerns –a long time ago, these worries had dulled and eventually just disappeared- and tried to explain it.

"Sometimes, you think we also forget that the wolves were once human?" Edward continued..

This time, Carlisle's mind did question, a string of comments on the incongruity of the question. It relieves him, almost, because this meant Carlisle didn't know. "Speaking of wolves, the one I met today," Carlisle said smoothly, and Edward suddenly thought of a hundred other instances where Carlisle knew where he shouldn't and Edward felt something tighten in his gut. "I think he might," Carlisle faltered. Curiouser and curiouser.

Edward raised his head. "Yeah?"

"It's very possible that he-" Carlisle did not continue.

"Carlisle?"

"Listen to Alice," Carlisle said. Edward frowned, confusion clear on his face. "Please."

Sometimes Aro said things like that too, a simple demand that he phrased as a request even though everyone involved understood it for the imperative it was. With Aro, Edward stopped questioning it because he trusted Aro. With Carlisle, though, he'd never questioned, and he didn't intend to start now.

"Okay." Edward leaned back on Carlisle, and they stayed in that position the entire night.

The next morning, Alice told him that she couldn't see his future any longer.

I know, I know - this is how many months late? It was literally nesting on my laptop, so this is unbeta'ed and might be terrible, but I don't have the heart to change the work and decided something's better than silence. Also: is anyone willing to beta by any chance? If you do, PM or email me, please, I'd really appreciate it. (: