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CHAPTER FIVE ʙᴍᴡ
The skies had blessed them with a thundery type of rain, soaking the ground into a lush green, the trees battered by a cool, wintery wind that howled and groaned loud enough to cover even the loudest of crashes that escaped from the charcoal clouds. Lightning struck the air in large, branched tails, crackling and sparking like silvery fireworks. The wettest day of the year, as described by the scratchy voice that rattled from Esme's old radio in the kitchen, of which she was too attached to let Rosalie fix.
The skies had blessed them in the sense that there was no sun in the sky to be seen; not an inch of a golden ray could break through the suffocated skyline. In clearer words, it was the perfect weather for a game of baseball, as the Cullens would normally do, but with the visit of Charlotte and Peter, Jasper's non-vegetarian friends from the past, that meaned football instead.
The whole family gathered around the front yard of their land, hovering around the doorway. Emmett held the ball excitedly, managing to control his muscle movements enough to keep the ball within a few metres of his body as he tossed it around, hitting it with the tips of his toes every so often. Carlisle held two spares, knowing his family well enough to know how competitive they were, and equally how brittle the human-made equipment was. But despite all of their anticipating, smiley faces, Rosalie could not find it within herself to feel content.
It was not only wickedness and jealousy that made Rosalie so unhappy, but an obtuse and innate need to be right. If it had not been for her vanity and her self-imposed worry, Bella would not have irked her so and Edward's incompetence wouldn't have been so blatantly obvious. Her car would still be in one piece and Violet Green certainly wouldn't have had Rosalie's name in her mouth in the cafeteria.
With Charlotte and Peter's arrival, it had also meant Edward's departure, his obsession with the human consuming him enough to draw him away to stalking when he felt even an inch of danger. And though Rosalie felt deep relief that Edward would not be present for most of the weekend, she was unbelievable annoyed by what it truly meant. If he felt strongly enough to stay away when friends of the family were visiting, feeling his pull to her too close, then what else would he miss? What else would he let slide, just to protect her? Did he really not care as much as she did? Was losing his home not a heartwrenching enough idea?
Emmett had noticed her restlessness easily. It had driven him into taking her by the arm as they reached the Rainier field, placing the ball between her hands and ordering her to kick it as far as her foot would send it. She glared at her brother first, stopping only as Charlotte came to stand beside her with Esme.
"Just do it," Emmett said. "Kick the ball. Stop being so angry all the time."
When Rosalie didn't budge, Emmett sighed and took her by the arms, moving her swiftly to the side. Positioning his large body behind the ball, he glanced over his shoulder again.
