Sounded like maybe it'd be best to just...turn off my phone. So I did exactly that and watched as the screen flashed different colours before going black. Its better this way, I just needed a little time. That's all! Just a minute with Carlisle before I ended up having to separate from my husband because he's an idiot.

"You know she'll know, right?" Edward murmured next to me as I cut my stare over to him in a warning. He raised both hands with a small smile, "I'm just saying."

"Yes. I know she'll know, she always knows." I groaned, letting my head fall back out of frustration. He didn't have to remind me of all my mistakes, Jesus.

"I'm not trying to do that, Cat. I just..." He sighed, his head turned towards me with a frown, "I just don't want this to as badly as it did before." He sounded regretful, his eyes stared into mine with worry that bothered me slightly from my lack of understanding.

When did we ever do this? I don't recall Edward and I hanging out in hospital waiting rooms very much, I mean I did that a lot. But, I hadn't in a good long while. I need to get back into medicine, but then I'd spend most of the day wondering how Jazz was.

"I didn't mean this exactly for goodness sake, you don't have to take it so literally." Edward shook his head before running a hand through his hair with an exasperated scoff at me.

"Well stop reading my mind if you don't like it!" I hissed at him as I sat up a little straighter. I"d realised right after I'd hissed that I could have just yelled the thought at him but dismissed it. Does it really matter how I communicate with Edward? He'd know either way.

"I think I enjoy it when you don't say it out-loud more." He declared, still staring at me though now his eyes darted all over my face and hair as though he was searching for something.

"Whys that?" I turned my gaze down to my wrist as something tickled my leg and noticed that I'd somehow torn a hole in my jeans with my bracelet. Terrific. Apparently everything was turning up Cat today.

"You don't hold back when you think but when you say something," he pursed his lips in thought, "it's always edited somehow." I raised a brow at that, wondering if I could possibly edit a thought.

Edward shook his head with a small smile, "you can't. When we speak we change our tones, consider the words more carefully and adjust based on the other person." He shrugged as though this was just a fact of life while I scoffed at that. I didn't change the way I spoke just because of the other person.

"Actually you do it a lot. But, when I hear you thinking, I get the whole thought. You can't just get rid of it in your head." Now he sounded affectionate, his smile still small but somehow his eyes were softer as he focused back on mine.

I drew back a little, feeling a bit uncomfortable with this conversation. We were edging past friendly territory again, and I didn't feel like dealing with the consequences of the dumpster fire that was Edward and I's relationship. I'd just gotten him back as a friend and if he so much as even thought about flirting, I think I might actually rip off his other arm.

"I'm not trying to do that. I swear." I raised a brow as he took one of my hands, "when I said I'd respect your-" his head tilted coyly. "Well your disagreeing with my disagreement, I meant it." Alright. Fair enough, I guess.

"I just want us to-" Edward began but was quickly cut off by Carlisle, "what are you two doing here?"

My head jerked to see him standing there with a chart in his hand and a confused expression while his gaze drifted from Edward and I to Edward's hold on my hand. I pulled it back quickly, choosing to just stand up to avoid seeing Edward's expression after I'd retracted my hand from his.

"We need to talk about Woods." I nodded towards a less populated area with my voice low and hurried out of fear that Jasper might figure out I'd taken off with Edward to rat him out.

Everything for the most part appeared to be settled within the family, though Rose and Jasper weren't very happy about the conclusion. They'd simply been voted out and I think the fact that I'd been on the same side as Edward bothered him immensely. Actually, there's no thinking involved I'd have to be blind and stupid to think that it hadn't bugged him.

He'd been silent and moody all night and the trend hadn't let up at school either. In fact he didn't speak more than a few words or a growl since then and that was officially two days ago. At first, I'd decided that if he wouldn't talk to me then I sure as hell wouldn't talk to him but...I somehow forgot that the man had the patience of a saint.

My eye twitched as I glowered at him while plucking my violin's strings with some fury. "Alright! I give in. I submit." I threw the violin down on the bed as I stood, waving my arms around out of frustration.

I saw him look up for only a second before he went right back to strumming his stupid guitar, annoying me even more. "Jasper!" I'm sorry to say that I almost stamped my foot but stopped myself before I'd begun.

"Catharin" he intoned, still watching the strings vibrate as his fingers moved along the neck.

"Are you serious right now? You're still sulking?" I scoffed, placing my hands on my hips and waiting for an answer.

"I'm not sulking." Good God, I think I might actually strangle him if he doesn't put down the fucking guitar. I know it won't do anything but it'd make me feel better.

"Then what? Angry? What is-" I gestured to his general person, searching for a word to describe what he was doing. "What is this?!" I was getting so frustrated that I couldn't even think of a word to describe him ignoring me while still responding to me.

"Dunno, I think people call it playing an instrument these days." He shrugged with waves of sarcasm that made my right eye twitch again.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't pick your side. But-" I began with a shake of my head as his picked up, "generally, when someone apologises, they don't add in a but." He raised a brow, daring me to tell him he was wrong.

"Fine!" I hissed, curling my hands into fists by my side with little else to do in order to communicate my exasperation. "I'm. Sorry."

"For?" His head tilted and I'm sure that to someone else his face was entirely apathetic.

Even I would've thought that he actually didn't care from the look he had, but being married to him for so long meant I saw more than other people did. His feelings were hurt. He didn't want to look emotional so he'd replaced the frowns and hurt with a blank expression.

"For not taking your side." I sighed, clenching my jaw that he couldn't just admit what his problem was. He let out a long sigh before twisting around to place his guitar back on it's stand.

"One, that's not what I'm upset about." He turned back around and stared at me as he leaned to rest his elbows on top of his knees. "Two, I'm not angry." I swallowed, attempting to ignore the need to scream out of frustration as he just continued to watch me with his hands steepled in front of him.

"Then what?" I shook my head, almost pleading for him to just tell me what was going on in his mind right now.

Edward mentioned that he was a mixture of things during English today: angry, hurt, worried. The list ran on and eventually I just stopped listening out of guilt. I refused to allow Jasper to kill off Woods for mainly rational reasons like not wanting to move or deal with a cover story, but also because somewhere in the back of my mind I didn't want him to die. I couldn't find a reason as to why I cared, not one that I could vocalise anyway.

"I'm worried, Cat." He almost smiled at me, the corners of his lips turned up but his eyes were hollow and despondent looking. "I'm worried that he's going to hurt you, I'm worried that he's going to try and take you from me."

"That's it?" I furrowed my brow, bewildered, as he shook his head.

"No. I'm also pissed that you took off with Edward and turned your fucking phone off." His tone turned from sounding dispirited to sardonic as he gave me a low chuckle. I rolled my eyes at that and sat down next to him on our bed with a huff.

"So, one." I mocked him, holding up a single finger. "I'm not an object. I can't just be plucked and carried off like someone's freakin' candy dish. And two." I held up two fingers near his face while he raised a brow at my hand. After I'd held up the second finger, I found that I didn't actually have a two here. Shit.

"And two?" He repeated my word with derision after a second ticked by and he realised that I didn't have a second follow-up. "Yeah. That's what I thought."

"Shush." I narrowed my eyes, letting my hand fall to lay back down in my lap with some regret that I couldn't sass him as well as I'd hoped. But, the tension had almost disappeared entirely and I sort of wanted to poke him in the forehead just to leave him speechless for once.

He gave me a smug look but said nothing else and neither did I. We just continued to stare at each other in silence for about five minutes. With every second that went by, I found myself feeling more and more guilty with a hint of annoyance that he'd technically won this one.

"Why do you still love me?" I blinked at him, surprised and confused as to where his question had come from.

"Because..." I frowned, attempting to find the right word for what I felt.

It was difficult to explain, a flurry of different thoughts all erupted in my head at once. Because he'd made me smile when I wanted to die and because when I looked next to me, I felt safe, stable, and happy. It wasn't in the words he said, it was the thoughtful actions-the sacrifices he'd made and the difficulties he didn't share because he wanted me to be happy.

"I just do. We're meant to be." I stared back at him, hoping he could just feel what I meant as I couldn't describe it to him.

"We're almost complete opposites of each other, Cat." He shook his head with a small smile. "You're soft. I'm rough. You're controlled and I'm always a paper-cut away from killing someone."

His hand came up and ran through his hair while his eyes were downcast, staring at the floor between his legs. "I'd understand if you regretted getting stuck with me for a mate. I keep holding you back."

"Well, I wouldn't have it any other way." I scoffed, grabbing his hand and pulling on it so he'd look me in the eyes.

"You know what, Jazz? You might be a big genius with strategy and war but I think you're a great big idiot sometimes." His head swivelled quickly to eye me with an expression of amused confusion, like he wanted to laugh but wasn't sure if he'd actually heard me right.

"Am I now?" He chuckled, raising a brow.

"Yes. You are." I bobbed my head up and down quickly with a look of disbelief.

I didn't understand why he'd actually had such a thought of him holding me back, if it weren't for him I'd probably have died back in the 60s. If we hadn't found each other back then, I'm almost 100% certain that I'd have died from sadness. I didn't know it at the time but our kind had a tendency to wither away after their mates died.

"Well..." he drawled, coming closer to me, "I guess I'll just have to be your big idiot then." His hand wrapped around my jaw before he kissed me softly.