The Human Cullen || E.Cullen

4 . uncovered

Edward rubs his forehead as he sits in his motel room going over the files again. "I can't find anything, Carlisle. Someone's stopping me from getting what I need."

"Come home son. We'll get to the bottom of this, together." His father says softly. "We don't want you out there alone, who knows what'll happen."

"This should be easy!" Edward yells, throwing the desk across the room and breaking it in half.

"Stop. See? You're getting yourself worked up. Come. Home." Carlisle says a little sterner.

"I... I can't." Edward whispers in defeat. "I can't face him. I can't look at my own son because I'm the reason he's so fucked up. I'm the reason he can't sleep, I'm the reason he was in prison, I'm the reason he had no one." He rubs his face and tangles his fingers in his hair. "I should have fought for him but instead I let him go."

"You can't change that now, son." Carlisle says gently. "But you can do this the right way. Arthur has a very rude patrol officer and Josie's family are fighting for him to live out the rest of the 10 year sentence."

This is a surprise to Edward. "What... why on earth!? They know he's innocent!"

"They don't seem to think that anymore. Time changes things, Edward. Arth may seem resentful, angry, shut off but... but he needs his father. You need him just as much."

He's silent for a minute; can he really trust Arthur? Everything about this screams yes, yes of course he can, but he has Bella and Renesmee now. Situations have changed. He's changed. He hasn't been able to trust people great since that day in the courtroom and then everything happened with Bella... He had no time to process.

"Son?" Carlisle says gently.

"I'll come home." He sighs in defeat. He just really wants Bella right now.

-

Arthur wakes early and slips some joggers on with a hoodie and trainers, pushing his hair back into a baseball cap. He slips his headphones up his hoodie and tucks his phone in the zip pocket of his joggers before he heads downstairs. Everyone's apparently already up and outside playing with Ness and her dog but he doesn't even look at them as he takes off jogging. He can tell Esme calls for him but he ignores it and opts for letting his blaring music drown everything out.

A run is exactly what he needs; he needs to stretch his legs, get some fresh air, get a clear head... and maybe cut his leg off to get rid of the bracelet. Maybe. He jogs to the edge of his perimeter, using the smart watch Emmett got him to see how far he's ran. 2.7 miles and he's nowhere near done. He circles around, heading in another direction. This goes on for a while before the rain hits and he stops, just stops in the middle of the road panting.

He looks up at the sky and smiles, closing his eyes at the feeling of the rain on his skin. It feels so good. It feels like freedom... something so close but still so very far from his grasp. He finds himself letting out a sob as he falls to his knees in the muddy shrubs he stopped in by the road, every pent up emotion he's been holding in coming out in that moment.

He cries because his own father doesn't want him.

He cries because he knows he let his ma down.

He cries because it's been 4 years since Josie passed away, his best friend, his surrogate sister.

He cries because he's scared, he hurts. And he doesn't know if he can take it anymore.

He struggles to his feet and wipes his cheeks as he begins to run in the heavy rain. He comes to a small liquor store and ducks inside looking around; slyly he slips a small bottle of vodka in his pocket before grabbing a bag of gum and buying it, just to look less suspicious. As soon as he's out of the way of the shops cameras and owner he takes a deep slug of the bottle and cringes. Vile. But the more he drinks, the more he goes numb. And so soon enough he's downed a lot of the bottle and stumbles down the road, only just managing to find his way home.