To Everything There is a Season

A/N: Thanks go to Justine Lark and Gleena for their excellent skills in reviewing:) Thanks, ladies!

Emmett's penchant for Cher is from Gleena, and her marvelous story The Cold War. Read it-you'll be glad you did:)

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Another day, another decade. I had seen enough of Alice's visions of the not-so-distant-future to know that the eighth decade since my birth would be just as painful as the last. September, 1973 found my family and me starting in another new school, in another new town, yet everything was the same. It was obvious that times were changing, science was advancing, new technologies were emerging, yet I was stagnant. Perhaps it was time to move beyond high school again. I hadn't been to college in more than a decade, and I was ready for new material.

Of course the love-beads had slowly given way to polyester, and the music had morphed over the last ten years from the upbeat rock-and-roll so prevalent in the fifties and early sixties into a laughable conglomeration of slow love-ballads and songs that were not meant to be enjoyed sober.

Since I had neither a mate to love nor the ability to impair my senses, my beloved respite from reality had turned against me. I often played my cherished classics on the piano in an effort to remember why I enjoyed music. My 45's from the fifties and early sixties were nearly worn out, as I had listened to them so often in my attempts to block out the more recent and highly-annoying songs that my family listened to and thought of.

Emmett had embraced the dawning of the seventies. Lately his thoughts nearly constantly played Cher's Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves on an endless loop. Esme had scolded me for the volume of my stereo for the first time in memory, as the windows in the entire house had been vibrating in my attempt to block my brother's thoughts.

Of course, I had at first been grateful to my mother when she intervened and asked Emmett to think of something else. However, I knew instantly that his wicked smirk meant that I would regret complaining to Esme. My fears were confirmed when Emmett's continuous loop started on Chirpy-chirpy-cheep-cheep.

As a result, I had been grateful for school to start for the first time in nearly a quarter-century.

"Mr. Cullen, would you care to demonstrate balancing a combustion reaction on the board for us?" my exasperated chemistry teacher pleaded. I sighed, vowing to do a little worse on any future coursework; I would rather not be singled out like this again. I could already hear the fantasies beginning to form in the minds of the female population in the class. Thankfully, I wouldn't have to face them, and I could allow my annoyance to show on my face.

Two hours later, I begrudgingly sat with my brothers and sisters in the steadily-filling cafeteria. Our trays, as always, sat untouched on the table before us. Rosalie and Emmett were openly flirting; Jasper was unashamedly throwing lust in their direction. I quirked an eyebrow in question at my empathic brother; he shrugged.

Nothing better to do…

I could not deny that Jasper had a point, though I was certainly not agreeable with his method. I was grateful that Emmet and Rosalie had not acted on their imaginings beyond their barely-suitable-in-public flirtations, nauseating as they were. It was fortunate that the students in this town were slightly less taken with us than in our previous residence. We had cut it close more than once with inquisitive humans there, and the last thing that my family needed was a scandalous incident in the cafeteria to draw curious eyes our direction.

Did you enjoy chemistry today?

I narrowed my eyes at my clairvoyant sister. Her eyes were watching the students milling through the lunch line, but in her mind, Alice was laughing at me.

You could have melted a hole in the blackboard, Edward.

Alice's thoughts erupted into mirthful giggles. I resisted the urge to growl at her; then Jasper caught her eye, distracting her from teasing me.

You owe me a game of chess now, Edward.

I did not have to answer him, as he already knew of my compliance.

Half-way through the lunch hour, I decided that I ought to scan the thoughts of the students around us more closely for a time; it wouldn't do to become complacent in their apparent lack of interest in us. Many of the students were contemplating the ridiculous Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour episode that was set to air the next night; Emmett was unfortunately among them, pondering whether Rosalie would watch it with him before...

I hastened to block him.

Several of the children around us were singing the heinous Chirpy-chirpy-cheep-cheep song. Apparently the morning Disc Jockey on the local station had dedicated his shift to the European group that originally sang the poor excuse of a song. That also explained why it was Emmett's first choice when he began to torture me this morning.

Jasper was contemplating the ramifications of the ratification of the 26th Amendment to the constitution two years previous. It was certainly not in these children's minds that many of them could soon vote for the nation's leader. Sadly, most of them very likely couldn't name Nixon as the current President, let alone what Watergate was.

As I sat, drifting and sifting through the various minds around me, a strange pungent odor invaded my senses. It took me a moment to realize that scent wasn't in the air. My siblings thoughts were completely devoid of the conscious awareness of the aroma, though I could not ignore the smell.

"Do you smell that?" I asked softly.

I dare not smell too deeply, Edward.

I nodded at Jasper, acknowledging him.

"I don't smell anything except this disgusting food," Rosalie sneered, looking down at the uneaten food on the table. Alice and Emmett both shook their heads, looking at me in concern. I returned to my mental perusing, curious as to whether any other person was aware of the smell.

Edward!

Alice's inner voice was urgent, but I was not prepared for the sudden magnetism of the mind I just brushed with my own. I felt as though I was anchored to this single point of chaos sitting across the cafeteria.

Oh, Edward! What's wrong? Alice was extremely concerned, but I could not answer her.

Hey, man…are you ok? Emmett pulled away from Rosalie, who huffed, and tried to hide her concern for me by pulling out her hair brush.

I could feel my body stiffen, though I couldn't tell if it was voluntary or not. I seemed to understand that it was in conjunction with the mind that was holding me captive, but I just couldn't break away.

Rapid images flashed through my mind, and for a moment, I had the sensation of being swept up in one of Alice's more forceful visions. Everything my eyes took in had a hazy-halo surrounding it; it was bizarre after so many years of my extraordinary sight. My siblings were starting to stare at me nervously; Jasper was kneeling next to me, Emmett on my other side, though no one around them seemed to notice us.

"Someone's attacking him!" Emmett whispered to my siblings, but Alice cut him off.

"No…not an attack…" she murmured. I felt ill-at-ease, hearing everything, but able to do or say nothing.

"Quick! Get the nurse! Jill is having a fit!" someone across the room yelled. Suddenly most of the student body was standing. The cafeteria was filled with the cacophony of shifting feet and nervous murmurs. The bolder students inched closer to the girl I now realized was having an epileptic seizure.

I could not pull my awareness from hers, even as I realized what it was. I felt as though her mind was actively holding my consciousness. I was peripherally aware that my siblings had all stood now, though no one else was paying us any attention. My hands were clenched in fists on the table, and I could hear my brothers whispering.

"His eye is twitching…are you doing that?" Emmett asked Jasper in our vampric sound frequency.

"No… he's confused, nervous…but aware?"Jasper murmured.

"Well, that was brilliant," Rosalie snapped in a normal tone to Jasper. "He's going to make everyone look at us if he doesn't get it together!" she hissed, looking over at me, while simultaneously straightening her hair in the event that someone did look her way. I didn't miss her anxious tone, though no one mentioned it. As a rule, Rosalie never acknowledged concern for me, even if it were apparent to us all.

Flashes of light strobed and swirled in front of my eyes now, bouncing and rocketing through my field of vision like an Independence Day fireworks show. The girl's conscious awareness sounded like the electronic static that emanated from the television set when there was no signal, yet there were intermittent bursts of random images, memories perhaps, that would flare for less than a second. Were I human, the experience would be overwhelming. I doubted that "Jill" had any awareness of the storm raging in her brain. Alice finally spoke up.

"The nurse is coming, and through that closest door. She'll have a full view of Edward-if we don't take him out of here, she's going to make him go to the hospital too. Carlisle isn't working today; he's hunting with Esme in the north. We would have to move again."

I heard her say it, but my legs would not respond. I couldn't make my body move. Emmett and Jasper looked to each other and nodded before they both grabbed an arm and pulled me to my feet, and then they half-dragged, half-marched me out to the parking lot.

As the distance between myself and the seizing girl was increased, my faculties became my own again. By the time we reached the car, I was able to shrug off my brother's helping hands.

"What was that?" Rosalie asked bitterly. She was thinking of the Home Economics class that she would miss. Rose was fuming with worry along with her anger, though she wouldn't admit it to the others. I ignored her question.

"You were all over the board there, Edward," Jasper commented. I met his eye and shrugged.

"I couldn't pull away from her mind. It was as though her thoughts, her brain were magnetized," I explained.

This hasn't ever happened before, Edward. Alice thought. Her brow was wrinkled, but otherwise my normally-energetic sister was subdued.

"I was completely pulled in to her thoughts," I began again, pinching the bridge of my nose and thinking back on the situation. I moved in order to get behind the wheel so as to drive my siblings and myself home, but Emmett pushed me sideways away from the driver's door.

"I don't think so little brother; I just saw you have a fit," he said.

"I did not have any sort of fit; I merely could not pull away from the mind of the person having the fit, who, I may add, will not be accompanying us home," I said impertinently.

"I'm driving."

I exhaled until my lungs were completely devoid of oxygen and handed him the keys, aware that Jasper was influencing my willingness to surrender the keys to my classic 1937 Triumph Roadster. It was the first car I had bought after I returned to Carlisle and Esme. It was meticulously maintained and running better than the day I had bought it, a fact that I hated to admit to Rosalie. I did not appreciate anyone else driving it.

I growled in frustration before Jasper calmed me again while Emmett crammed his enormous frame behind the wheel and started the engine. I glared at my brothers and Rosalie returned the acidic look as she sat in the front passenger seat. Jasper had already opened the rumble seat, and Alice perched herself on his lap. I begrudgingly climbed up next to them, muttering under my breath about the fact that I had been driving for almost as long as Emmett had existed, and that I was no one's "little brother." Rosalie huffed and rolled her eyes and glared at me again.

Ignoring Rosalie's vitriolic thoughts, I turned to Alice. She was watching me with a curious, yet knowing look.

"It was reminiscent of the first time I ever experienced a vision with you," I said, voicing how the feel of the kaleidoscope of images had seemed familiar. Alice smiled at the memory. The first day that I had met her, after I had realized that she had moved my things from my room, I had decided that I would do the same to her and reclaim my room. The moment the thought had entered my head, my mind was overtaken by a series of rapidly changing images of she and I fighting over the room before Carlisle and Emmett had to pull Jasper off of me. Emmett laughed the whole time that I finally had another cheater to fight against. Just as suddenly as they started, the visions ceased, and I was left staring at the tiny vampire in front of me in shock. Alice's delighted, greeting smile faded into a pout.

"You wouldn't move your favorite sister, would you?" she had pleaded, and my resolve was shattered. To this day, Emmett was still astounded by the degree of influence that Alice had over me.

"What do you think that says about my visions?" Alice wondered aloud. Jasper was quick to sooth her.

"Alice, sweetheart, even if your visions were the product of some sort of epileptic disorder, that was a long time ago, and it's not who you are now," he drawled. Alice's beaming smile and resultant thoughts left me cringing beside them. Never had the rumble seat seemed so small.

Just a few moments later, Emmett turned onto our property. It was fairly isolated, and our house sat just inside the edge of my mental reach. I ranged ahead to see if Carlisle and Esme had returned home yet, and was instantly sorry that I had. Being the only unmated vampire in a coven with three other mated pairs left me in too many awkward situations. More so because of my gift.

Thankfully, by the time Emmett parked the Triumph in the garage, Esme was there to greet us, fully clothed and smiling.

"What are you doing home so soon?" Esme's face fell, and then she instantly looked at each of our eyes in turn. Finding five pairs of eyes in varying shades of gold, Esme relaxed noticeably. "What happened?"

"Edward had a fit, so we had to bring him home," Emmett said tactlessly.

"A…fit?" Esme asked, confused. She was imagining me stamping my foot as though I were a small child, which only succeeded in frustrating me. I sighed indignantly and crossed my arms as I rolled my eyes.

"I did not have a temper-tantrum, mother," I said, purposely using the title instead of her name, hoping to ease her worries. My effort was only partially successful. Esme smiled at my current behavior in contrast to what I was denying before she pondered what Emmett had meant. Her mind jumped to an experience she had had as a small girl, mostly forgotten, but still clear in what she could recall. Her father had put down a dog that had been plagued with "fits," telling her that it wasn't worth the effort of keeping it.

"I didn't have a seizure, Esme," I said softly. "I think that would be rather impossible in my current state of existence, though I did observe one through the mind of a girl who seized in the cafeteria at school," I explained. I pondered over the implications of the event. What was it about this "Jill" that had kept my mind captive? Why hadn't this ever happened to me before? Had I simply never been near enough to an epileptic before? Would this happen again, or was this a fluke?

Hearing the nature of our conversation, Carlisle came down from his study to hear about the incident, and my siblings wordlessly moved to their own pursuits.

"We'll let you have some peace," Esme said, noting the eager inquisitiveness on Carlisle's face and pulling my father back to the study with her. I was extremely grateful to my mother, yet again. She was extremely perceptive when it came to reading my need for space. I definitely needed some time to think.

Early the following morning, as I sat at my piano, Carlisle returned home from his nightshift. His mind was full of the test results from Jill Matthews, the girl from the cafeteria. She had been admitted to the hospital for further observation and Carlisle's curiosity got the better of him.

You saw her seizure? He asked mentally as he and Esme strode hand-in-hand into the living room. I caught his eye and gave a minute nod. "You were affected by the episode?" he asked aloud.

"Yeah, he was all stiff and his eye was twitching and we had to practically drag him out of there," Emmett said, half-distracted by the Space Race arcade console that he and Jasper had had delivered the previous day. Esme turned to him, eyes wide, half irritated by the rather large and unattractive thing now sitting in her living room, and half-disturbed by Emmett's casual description of my experience.

But you are fine now? My father thought, concerned.

"Yes, I am perfectly fine. It was a truly perplexing phenomenon. At first, I was aware of a strange pungent odor, though no one else seemed to notice it."

"An aura…some epileptics have subtle warning signs such as a smell, or a visual halo, or a headache…auras are just as unique as the person suffering from the seizure," Carlisle said with his typical enthusiasm for all things medical.

"I experienced all of those along with the girl," I admitted. "Then, her mind just became a storm. Brief images, flashes of memory, and bursts of light and sound obscured much of my awareness. I was peripherally aware of the others around me, but I couldn't move, or respond."

That's extraordinary, Edward, Carlisle mused, thinking about a recent medical journal that he had read.

"Why hasn't this happened before?" Esme asked, as she was unable to recall my sharing anything similar. Carlisle, as usual, was ready with an answer.

"Epileptics have been legally barred from entry into public places until just recently, Love. Even from school. Many of them have been institutionalized," Carlisle explained. Esme's loving nature became even more apparent when her face showed her disapproval of such an action. Carlisle smiled. "Times are rapidly changing; more so than in any generation I've existed in, we can be grateful for that," Carlisle continued.

"That may be part of it, but I think it was actually more than that," I said. Carlisle was instantly listening again. "I think her mind is different than other humans; it was almost as though I was observing one of Alice's forceful visions. It made us ponder if Alice's visions originally stemmed from some sort of epileptic disorder."

"Extraordinary," Carlisle murmured aloud this time. How would your brain appear on an EEG, I wonder…or Alice's. Or any vampire compared to a human's. This Jill's was unusual, even for a sufferer of epilepsy…I wonder what Eleazar would see from her if he were here?

"What was it that the medical journal said?" I asked, my curiosity growing.

"The Yale Epilepsy Center has been utilizing video recordings and electro-encephalogram recordings to monitor and track brain activity. I can only imagine the extent to which you could use your gift in a diagnostic situation such as that," Carlisle was lost in the possibilities. The last time I had been to college, EEG technology had only just been emerging. Carlisle and I had been fascinated by the complexities of the brain anatomy that made my gift possible, and what a vampire electro-encephalogram would look like. Carlisle knew that x-rays could not penetrate our skin, but he didn't think that our skin or our skull would prevent a machine from picking up our brain waves.

My interest in medicine and particularly neurology had increased again after the experience I had in the cafeteria. My last college degree had been in chemistry, with a minor in biology, and both would lend well to entering medical school. Dates could easily be altered on the transcripts. Carlisle had encouraged me for years to enter medical school, but I had always scoffed at his faith in my control. I was confident that I could handle the coursework. It was the practical application that I was unsure of, though there was no need to continue into the practical side of medical training. I wouldn't be using the degree. Control notwithstanding, I felt certain that any human would feel rather uncomfortable with what they assumed to be a young boy as their physician.

"Yale? What about Harvard?" I asked, noting as I did so, the gleam that shone in Carlisle's eyes as he realized why I was asking.

You would be an excellent doctor Edward. My father thought with conviction that I did not feel.

Carlisle's confidence in me was encouraging, but I could never imagine having the same level of control as my father. While it had been more than four decades since my decision to return to the lifestyle Carlisle had first taught me, I was in no way thinking that I had control enough to do what Carlisle did every day.

I could feel my normally stoic expression softening as my curiosity shifted into determination. Perhaps leaving this town so soon wouldn't be a bad thing after all. Alice suddenly squealed.

"Oh, New England! We can go antiquing!"

I sighed and shook my head at my family's thoughts.

Rosalie, of course, wasn't happy. We're moving for him, again?

Emmett and Jasper were both thinking about the hunting available in the North-Eastern United States, and Esme and Carlisle were beaming at me.

"Perhaps one day, our family will include two Doctors Cullen," Carlisle said proudly.

One day, perhaps. One day.

A/N: Thanks for reading this! My inspiration for this comes from my daughter, who has a seizure disorder. I've wondered what would Edward see of a seizure for a while now:)

The description of the seizure is part fact, part imagination. And, last but not least, Chirpy-Chirpy-Cheep-Cheep is in fact a real song that ranked #71 in the Billboard Top 100 list in 1971.

It is a rather annoying song; if you've never heard it before, you can Google it, but you'll likely be sorry that you did:)

Let me know what you think-about the story, that is, not the song!

ebhg:)