Solstice

CONFLICT

'Nessie, would you like to sleepover here tonight?' Alice asked, after taking one look at Edward's face. His golden eyes were livid, and his mouth was pressed into a single, hard line. His nostrils flared, and I knew he could scent the brandy that Calvin had laced my bloody cocktail with. I dropped a stack of Ness's shopping bags in the entrance hall, pretending not to notice the atmosphere. I was still such a coward.

'I'd love to,' Ness laughed, oblivious to the tension in the atmosphere. 'Jake, you have to go. Aunt Alice and I are having girl time.'

'What, painting each other's toenails and pillow fights?' Jacob scoffed, worry sliding from his face as Ness smiled at him. She sent me a brief look – more of a flicker – of irritation combined with sadness, and nodded.

'Of course,' she said scathingly, rolling her eyes. With a grin, she grabbed Alice by the wrist and towed her up the stairs. I could hear their giggles as they rounded the corner to Alice's closet – giggles which grew louder as the door slammed. Jacob also grinned. With a quick wave of the hand, he let himself out the front door.

'Let's go home.' Edward's tone brooked no disagreement. Emmett chuckled and murmured fight under his breath, and I shot him a scathing look that would've been more powerful if I hadn't been so nervous.

We took off into the dark, flying through the forest. Our feet made no sound on the damp, earthen floor. Edward ran faster and faster, like a man possessed. After a while, I gave up trying to keep up with him and followed at my own pace. When I burst through the door he was crouching by the fire, coaxing it into warmth.

'You went back there. Temple Bar.' It sounded like an accusation.

If I could've flushed, I would. 'Yes. Alice and I needed to speak to Renesmee. In an environment where we wouldn't be out of place. What's the big deal, Edward? It's a bar for vampires. It's not something depraved.'

'They feed on humans there,' he spat at me, his face contorted with disgust.

I shrugged. 'Better that, and the girls getting paid for it, than them snatching humans off the street.' I took off the light coat I'd been wearing all day and crouched in front of the fire, holding my fingers to the blaze. Again I wondered what it would be like to put my fingers into the fire, what it would feel like when I burnt... 'I'm not going to feel bad about going out with my sister and my daughter, Edward. If you don't like it, too bad.' The words came out sharper than I intended. Edward's eyes widened in incredulity.

'If I don't like it?' He strode back and forth, rumpling his untidy bronze hair. 'What has happened to you, Bella? You are not acting like the woman I married.'

I gasped. 'Because I have feelings of my own? Because I won't be bullied or told what to do? Do you prefer me as a doormat?'

'Of course not!' His eyes were outraged. 'But you've never gone so flagrantly against my wishes in the past. Ever. I don't understand, Bella. Right now, I don't understand you at all.'

'Gone against your wishes? I'm not your child, Edward. You don't own me. Don't try to control me!' I was shouting now, my fists clenched. He leant away from my anger, his own hands balled into tight fists. 'And don't take all your resentment out on me!'

'Resentment? What is it that I resent?' His nostrils flaring, he took several deep breaths. I could hear him grind his teeth.

'It's what Ness said today.' I dropped into a chair and stared into the fire. 'She resents Jacob. She said you were never allowed to be a father, because he was always there. And I feel... you feel the same. You put up with Jacob's presence in our lives because he so clearly needed her, and back then she needed him, but you weren't ever really able to be there for her. Not in the way you wanted to be.'