Over the next month, I clung to Edward’s side at all times. He seemed considerably more stressed over that time, but wouldn’t let me know what it was. At the start of the month, all seemed fine. We would go to school, sit with Alice at lunch, and he would spend the night with me as always. On the rare sunny days, the Cullens would be absent, most likely on a hunting trip. Edward would be waiting in the parking lot at the end of the day and he would drive me home. I would spend weekends at their house, most of the time and we went to the meadow and they played baseball. All was back to normal. Nobody mentioned that horrid time where Edward left, and I was glad it was like that. I was happy.

But all too abruptly, that changed. Edward seemed distant again. As if there was something in his conscience that was keeping him from being his normal self. He rarely laughed; just smiled and went back to his thoughts. I was forced to worry about what was wrong with him. The thought of him leaving was a constant, now. No matter how hard I tried to be optimistic, I just couldn’t do it. Not when everyone else was miserable.

Jasper stayed away from me more than he had in the beginning. I felt like we’d been progressing, like he was getting more in control of himself. Now he sat on the far corner of the lunch table, opposite from me. The family was absent more and more often. It seemed like they were always hunting. Emmett now picked me up and drove me home. Mentioning that, I did seem to be spending more and more time with Emmett. On hunting trip days he would pick me up and spend the day with me until Charlie came home. He would follow me around while I did my errands and talked to me while doing so. I actually enjoyed the extra time with him. But I could see it was all a strain. And I missed Edward. Emmett was clearly hunting less then the rest were. I felt guilty noticing this, but he would brush it off as if it didn’t matter at all. Me? Hunt? Nah, I’d rather not, anyway. So what’s up with you? That was the only explanation. He was avoiding the conversation. They were hiding something from me. I could feel it.