Âme Soeur Outtake 1: Ashes, ashes, we all fall down ~ Ange de l'aube's World

DISCLAIMER: Some lucky lady named Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight! I don't own a thing, just playing with her Universe.

This plotline, however, is © Ange de L'aube. I really don't see the point in stealing something I'm already providing for free, so please refrain from plagiarizing this story. Thank you.

WARNING: This Chapter is very un-fluffy.

I must issue a tissue warning if you're sensitive, a cheating warning, and an 'I want to slap the characters until they come to their senses' warning.

Continue reading at your own risk.

I would like to thank babsiebaby. She was kind enough to Beta this for me to give me peace of mind, before I posted it. Thank you Babs... Mwah!

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Outtake 1: Ashes, ashes, we all fall down
"These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which, as they kiss, consume. (Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene VI )"
William Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet)

"You're drunk"
"I'm not!"
"Okay tipsy but you had too much to drink already," Anthony said grabbing his girlfriend by the waist. She didn't want to go to Tanya's party, but once they got there she had started to drink, and drink. She had never had a drink before in her life. Anthony was worried and ashamed he had allowed her to drink like that.
"Come on! Let's go find Rosalie so we can go home," Anthony suggested. He was tired, and this party had become too wild for his taste a long time ago.
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. The moment he mentioned Rosalie, Marie disentangled his arms from her waist and glared at him with eyes full of fury.
"What?" Anthony asked confused, he couldn't understand why she hated Rosalie or Tanya for that matter. They were his best friends and although he didn't agree with some of the things Tanya did — like for example the party she was throwing at her house while her parents were away — he had nothing to say about Rosalie's behavior. She was a great friend and really supportive of his relationship with Marie.
"Nothing, just that as usual whenever you're with me you have to bring Rosalie or Tanya along. We can never be alone," Marie said in a seething tone.
Anthony frowned not fully comprehending what she was hinting by this. They spent a lot of time together — alone. Furthermore, Marie had never implied she disliked Rosalie. She had stated her dislike for Tanya loud and clear in several occasions, but she had never had anything bad to say about Rosalie. This sudden outburst didn't make sense to Anthony so he chalked it up to her state of drunkenness.
"Mon amour, really, you know that isn't true," he pleaded trying to caress Marie's cheeks.
Marie flinched from the contact and Anthony could feel a heavy knot forming in his throat as a result of Marie's reaction. She had never acted this way.
"Really?" She fumed. "Every time we go to a party, or the movies, everywhere, those two skanks have to follow. Are you sleeping with one of them or with both? Is that why you keep them around? Because we are your little harem?"
Marie knew that her words were extremely hurtful, but something had been boiling inside her all afternoon. Ever since Anthony had proposed going to the party. The moment he suggested they go, she had heard Demitri's words inside her head.
"He's cheating on you with one of them. I would bet it's with Rosalie since she's his closest friend, but I wouldn't discount Tanya. She's a whore as it is. I'm sure she has offered several times, and since you don't put out. Men can only wait for so long if there are perfectly available women within reach."
She usually didn't listen to whatever Demitri had to say. She never liked the boy, and only tolerated him because he was the son of her father's best friend. She didn't even know why she had told him about her doubts about Anthony and the relationship he had with Rosalie and Tanya.
Her insecurity had started with a passing comment her mom had made, after Anthony visited with Rosalie. She had said boys were not able of beingjust friends with girls. And it had festered, and festered, to the point that all she had in mind the whole afternoon was that nagging idea. Then she had to go and open up to Demitri, only making the situation worse and her doubts bigger.
She saw hurt and disbelief coloring Anthony's features when her words registered. It broke her heart to see any type of pain in Anthony's expression. She knew deep down that there was a high possibility that she was wrong. Scratch that, she knew she was wrong. She knew she was allowing her mother's spiteful comments to get to her. She knew that Demitri had wanted into her pants for a long time, but she had said the words, and couldn't take them back now.
"Anthony…" she whispered tentatively trying to reach out and grab her love's hand in hers. She wanted to express her regret, but didn't know how.
"No…" Anthony said pulling away. "I can't believe that's what you think of me! What's gotten into you?"
She could hear Anthony's voice breaking. She knew that her words had cut deep, but she was drunk enough to slower her senses. She couldn't formulate a proper apology.
"I'm sorry I..." she started but was immediately interrupted by Anthony's angry voice.
"Save it. I'll go find Rosalie and you wait for me here. You're obviously too drunk and lost your filter. We will talk about this when you have some caffeine in your system."
And with those words he left her standing in the hallway. She was choking in regret. It was not how she had envisioned this night to go, but as usual she had sabotaged herself.
She always sabotaged herself.
She groaned and sunk to the floor, hiding her face between her legs. She was starting to feel dizzy and sort of tired. After a few seconds, she banged her head against the wall. Wishing to numb the pain she felt inside her soul with a physical one.
"I never do anything right, not one little thing right… never… never…" she repeated as a mantra, until tears pooled in her eyes, taking her focus out of her pain, and placing it on the emptiness she felt.
So barren.
She hastily wiped her tears, and slowly and clumsily rose from the floor. She had to find Anthony. She had to fix things. He was the only good thing she had in her life. If she lost him she would lose everything. She might as well die.
Marie stumbled against the mass of bodies dancing to the beat of Tanya's stereo. The air was smoky, heavy, hot. She wanted to find Anthony as soon as possible, the choking feeling at the pit of her stomach increasing in intensity.
An ominous air surrounded the whole day. She had felt as if this was a turning point in her life from the moment she woke up, but now she felt the feeling growing in strength, smothering her.
She finally saw Anthony's back turned to her. He was talking to Tanya. They seemed to be having an argument but she couldn't hear what they were saying through the deafening blast of the speakers.
Suddenly, her whole world turned on its axis, and crumbled. Tanya grabbed Anthony's face and kissed him passionately.
She had always heard that a broken heart was one of the worse feelings one could ever encounter. What everyone failed to tell her was that it didn't feel as if her heart was broken. It felt as if every single part that made her who she was, shattered. She was not heart-broken, she was wholly-broken.
Her only instinct was to run. Run away from the betrayal, run away from her stomped and crushed soul.
And so she ran, as far away as she could.
-x-x-x-x-
"What the hell was that for?" Anthony hissed. One minute he was talking with Tanya about his fight with Marie, trying to defend his girlfriend's actions — which according to Tanya were nothing but one of her usual tantrums — and the next Tanya was trying to shove her tongue down his throat.
"What? You didn't like it?" Tanya replied with a drunken slur. She was too drunk to be of any use or even know what she was doing. She didn't know where Rosalie was, and was acting beyond ridiculous.
What is it about drunken people tonight? Anthony wondered and sighed.
"Okay Tanya, whatever... Make sure you drink a cup of coffee. I need to find Rosalie and get the hell out of here."
He walked towards the room, doing his best to dodge the boisterous teens that were moving around in the makeshift dance floor. He saw his brother watching from a hidden corner, and groaned. He was sure Jacob had seen the kiss between Tanya and him. But given his brother's feelings towards Tanya, and his friendship with Marie, he would probably assume the worst. When Jacob walked in his direction with an anguished look on his face he knew he was right.
"Jacob is not what it looks…" Anthony started but was interrupted by Jacob before he could finish his explanation.
"I know. I saw everything. I know she kissed you not the other way around. I saw you pushing her away. That's not the problem Anthony. Marie saw you too, but she didn't see the end. She ran. You must go after her at once before she does something stupid."
Jacob's words made Anthony's heart palpitate so fast he could almost hear its heartbeats. They had just had a fight about it. She had told him, not ten minutes before that she believed he had something with Tanya or Rosalie, or both. Only to walk at the precise moment Tanya kissed him. She was drunk and probably heartbroken. He had to find her. He had to fix this.
"Where did she go? Did you see in which direction she ran?" Anthony asked desperately. He needed to find Marie before it was too late, before she did something stupid.
"I'm not sure where she went, but I saw she caught a ride with Angela Weber. Remember? That nice girl from senior year?" Jacob answered in a rush.
Anthony felt some of the panic dissipate. At least he knew she was with someone friendly, not hitchhiking at the side of the road. Still, he needed to find her sooner rather than later.
"Maybe she went to her house?" Jacob suggested. "I don't see her going anywhere else this late at night."
Anthony nodded, and grabbed his brother's shoulders. "Please look for Rosalie and see her safely home. I need to talk with Marie before she blows this out of proportion."
"Of course," Jacob replied patting his brother on the back. "Go find your girl."
Anthony ran through the foyer, frantically searching his pockets for the keys to his car.
He opened the door and stuck the key in the ignition. Much to his disappointment the car wouldn't start.
"Damnit! Start you piece of crap!" He yelled turning the key again and again. However, the dying sound of his engine indicated clearly it wouldn't start without help. His battery was dead.
"Crap!" he said beating his hands against the steering wheel. He couldn't waste his time here. If he walked he could get to Marie's house in half an hour, forty minutes tops. If he tried to find someone with jumper cables, or call AA, it could take more than an hour. So, his decision was made. He climbed down and started to walk as fast as he could, hoping with all his heart he wasn't too late.
-x-x-x-x-
"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Angela asked to the sobbing girl. She had never even spoken to Marie before this night. She had seen her running out of the party just as she was about to leave and offered to give her a ride home. She didn't know why she was crying, but she wasn't one to pry.
"Yes," she replied in a hollow voice.
Angela parked her car in front of Marie's house, and insisted. "Are you absolutely sure? You can come home with me if your parents aren't home. I don't think you should be alone in your condition."
Marie opened her door and offered a watery smile to Angela.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I'll be fine."
Angela felt bad about letting her go, but she couldn't help someone if said someone didn't want help. So she nodded and drove away once Marie was inside her house.
As soon as Marie closed her door she sunk to the floor and beat it with her hands.
You're a failure. You're ugly. No one will ever love you. Thoughts like those kept repeating in her head like a broken record while she continued to beat her hands against the floor. A silent scream escaped her throat. She didn't have the strength to make an actual sound. She didn't have the strength to move, so she curled in the floor and sobbed quietly until she felt a pair of arms wrapping themselves around her form, and lifting her from the floor.
"What are you doing?" She asked in a low raspy voice. She knew it was Demitri since he was the only one at her place. Her parents and Demitri's were having dinner in Port Angeles and wouldn't return until later.
"I'm taking you to your bed, since you couldn't make it there by yourself. The floor is too cold for you to sleep in it," he replied and continued his ascent to her room.
She let him carry her. She didn't feel like struggling.
Once in her room he placed her on the bed, and walked towards the door. She heard the door close and assumed he left, but moments later she felt her bed sink and realized he was still there.
"What happened?" he asked after a few moments of silence.
"You were right," Marie answered simply, pressing her face against the pillow.
Demitri moved her hair away from her face, and Marie recoiled from his touch. It wasn't the warm touch she craved.
"Don't flinch. I'm just trying to help. Maybe you'll feel better if you talk about it."
"I doubt it," Marie responded hiding her face further against her pillow.
"You won't know if you don't try," Demitri persisted.
Marie sighed heavily and sat up in bed, hoping that if she told him what happened he would leave her alone.
"You were right," she repeated in a soft voice looking towards her window. "Anthony…" a small sob escaped her when she pronounced his name. "He doesn't love me. He's cheating on me with Tanya."
"I told you so," Demitri said moving his finger under Marie's chin and turning her face towards him. "He doesn't know what he's missing."
Marie's eyes widened at his words, but she didn't comment on them. She was feeling so unloved, so alone. She was seeing Demitri in a new light. He didn't seem creepy or scary anymore. He almost seemed nice.
"You're a beautiful girl Marie, and if he doesn't see that then he doesn't deserve you."
Marie sniffled loudly in response to his words and hugged him tightly. That had been one the nicest things anyone had ever said to her apart from Jacob, Renee or…Anthony. She hugged him in gratitude. She needed some sort of support. Renee was too far away, and Jacob was Anthony's brother. She needed a friend badly.
Demitri nuzzled her neck, and instead of pushing him away like she always did when he attempted to touch her — she let him.
He kissed behind her ear and whispered, "I do appreciate you. I do love you. Please let me show you."
In the past her immediate answer would had been no. She wouldn't have doubted. She wouldn't have even considered it, but this night all her defenses were down. She felt like a love-starving animal that needed someone to cuddle it, show it that it was important somehow. That it had a home. That it meant something to someone.
Also, the buzz of all the alcohol she had consumed was finally going to her head. There weren't any voices telling her it was wrong, that she had to say no. It was finally silent inside her head.
Thus, when Demitri's hands unbuttoned her jacket, she let him. When Demitri kissed her neck and nibbled on her earlobe, she allowed it. When Demitri pushed her and she was lying with her back against the bed, she remained still and permitted his wandering hands to explore her.
When she felt Demitri's lips traveling from her collarbone, to her neck, tracing a path to her lips, she mouthed 'I love you Anthony', and closed her eyes.
-x-x-x-x-
Finally after almost thirty minutes jogging in the rain Anthony made it to the Dwyers' residence. He knocked briefly on their door, and when he got no response he tried the doorknob. It was unlocked.
The lights on the living room were lit, and he could see the TV on, a scene from 'The Godfather' in pause on the screen.
No one seemed to be home, and he wondered if maybe Marie had gone home with Angela. He was about to turn and leave when he heard a male voice groan loudly from upstairs. He didn't know if Marie's parents were home. However, he had heard that Marie's father was less than scrupulous about bringing female company to his own home whenever his wife was away. He feared that maybe that was the case, and the reason behind Marie's absence.
Perhaps she got home — upset over the kiss she witnessed between Tanya and me — only to find her father fucking some random woman. Maybe she went to Rosalie's house. A million possibilities crossed his mind until he heard a sound he had only ever heard before in his meadow. He heard Marie's moan.
His mind froze, but his body continued to move. Without his brain ordering it, his legs started to climb the stairs, as if an invisible force was pulling him in that direction.
He followed the sounds to Marie's bedroom door, and without meaning to, he turned the handle, and opened it slowly.
The image he saw before him would forever stay edged in his memory.
He saw Demitri's naked back. He saw his naked body sitting on Marie's bed. But the image that made him wish for death, the image that made him wish to be blind, was Marie's naked form moving over Demitri. Her arms hugging him to her, her eyes closed, and her mouth open in a silent scream.
He took a step back and tripped on a loose floorboard, causing enough noise to draw attention, but only Marie seemed to react. At a snail's pace, as if time and space had started to move in slow motion she opened her eyes.
Across the open door two pair of eyes met, one pair green, one pair brown, but they both reflected the same feelings: heartbreak, loss, sorrow, emptiness.
At that moment Marie's silent scream turned into a real one. A scream that could not be mistaken with one of pleasure for it resembled the sound only a wounded animal could emit.
Time started to move at a normal pace again, and Anthony ran. He ran away as far as he could, away from this nightmare, away from the broken pieces of his soul.
-x-x-x-x-
Rosalie Hale was about to go to bed. She was doing a final check-up, making sure that all her windows and doors were locked. Sometimes it sucked that her mother was a nurse. It was also sad that her father had died long before she got the opportunity to know him, and in nights like this she felt their absence even more. She had spent one too many nights alone at her house when her mother got called for a late night shift, and she hated it.
Nevertheless, she admired her mother deeply and couldn't begrudge her for her career choice.
She was about to go to her room when she heard a knock on the door. It was a weak knock though, and this confused her. It was raining outside. A storm had broken over Forks just when Jacob had dropped her off, and it was only getting worse.
Maybe is the wind? She pondered. However, the knock was continuous and didn't sound like it was being caused by the wind. Gathering all her courage she walked to the window closest to the front door, and pulled the drape a little bit so that she could see what was causing that noise.
She immediately frowned at the sight of the person knocking at her door.
"Anthony?" she whispered, wondering what could bring him to her house so late at night.
Maybe he came to check that I made it home safely? Why didn't he just call? This doesn't make sense at all?she thought as she walked towards her door to let Anthony in.
The boy that was standing in her porch was not the boy she had last seen at Tanya's place. The twinkle that usually lit his forest-green eyes was dimmed by a shadow that obscured his face as well. He looked like a burned out candle, all the light in him gone.
"Anthony, what are you doing here?" she inquired worriedly. The look on his face and the way his hand was frozen mid-air, as if he had forgotten he didn't need to continue knocking, was scaring her.
But nothing could have prepared her for what happened next. Anthony collapsed, falling at her feet.
She was kneeling next to him at once, alarmed by Anthony's actions.
"Anthony! Anthony, are you hurt? What's happened to you?" She said checking his pulse, and brushing off the hair from his eyes. His eyes were closed, his face contorted as if he were in pain. She checked him over, and other than being soaked nothing seemed physically wrong with him.
"Come," she tried to lift him up by the arms. "Come on! Work with me Anthony! I need to take you to the sofa. You can't stay on the floor all night long."
After some struggle, Anthony finally cooperated, rose slowly from the floor, and leaned on Rosalie. She guided him to the sofa where he fell with the force of a ton of bricks free-falling from a twentieth floor.
"What is wrong with you?" Rosalie asked sitting next to Anthony's limp body. He was lying in her sofa completely still, eyes closed again.
"Answer me Anthony. I'm begging you." She was so afraid by now. She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what was wrong.
"That's it! I'm calling your dad!" she proclaimed getting up and walking towards her phone. The moment she picked up her receiver, she heard Anthony murmur in a soft broken voice, "I want to be dead Rose. She was… and he was… they… I wish I was dead."
Rosalie gulped. His words didn't make any sense, but she could tell that the pain that had led him to his current state was not physical. He needed to rest, and he needed to change clothes before he caught a cold. With a heavy sigh she dialed the Cullens' house.
"Hello," a gruff voice she recognized as Mr. Cullen's answered the phone.
"Goodnight, um… sorry to call so late Mr. Cullen but Anthony is here and I was wondering if you could come get him. He's wet, and I don't know where he left his car…"
"Is he hurt?" Mr. Cullen interrupted her. She could hear the rustling of clothes and she assumed he was getting dressed.
"Honestly? I don't know Mr. Cullen. He's not making any sense, and I'm alone at home. I don't know what to do. All I can think of is keeping him warm until you get here."
"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen minutes." The line disconnected immediately and Rosalie walked to her door to close it, but before she could, a panting Marie almost knocked her over.
After she recovered her balance she could see Marie looked just as bad as Anthony did. Her clothes were sopping. She didn't have a jacket on, and some buttons on her blouse were not made.
Had they fought? Rosalie's house was just five blocks away from Marie's. So it only seemed logical that Anthony would seek shelter there if he had fought with Marie and he didn't have his car with him.
"Is he here?" Marie said between gasps trying to bring her breathing back to normal.
"Yes, he's in my living room. What happened?" Rosalie asked concerned about the state Marie and Anthony were in. They had fought a couple of times before, but never like this, never this bad.
"I… I…" Marie began but couldn't continue. Her eyes filled up with tears and it broke Rosalie's heart to see her so lost and broken. She had always pitied the girl, since before she had befriended her through Anthony. Her family was a mess and as a consequence she wasn't exactly the most functional girl.
She gave her a reassuring smile and invited her in before closing the door.
"Go to him," she murmured in her ear. "Do what you need to fix this. But please, be gentle, whatever happened between you two affected him a lot. I'll be in my room."
Sighing and hoping for the best, Rosalie walked to her room and closed the door behind her.
-x-x-x-x-
"What are you doing here?" Anthony asked righting himself to take a sitting position on the sofa.
Marie could hear all the pain, and anger in his voice that she knew she had caused him. She knew it the moment she realized what a terrible mistake she had made.
She still couldn't explain to herself what had possessed her to allow Demitri to take her. To take for himself a gift she had been saving for the love of her life — for Anthony.
It had all felt wrong, from the moment their naked skins touched, to the moment he was inside her. It was all wrong. The wrong hands, the wrong lips, the wrong arms, the wrong body, the wrong soul.
She knew it, and yet, she allowed it to continue. As wrong as Demetri was for her, at least in his arms she didn't feel pain. She didn't feel anything. She could forget her mother's cruel words. She could forget the kiss that broke her heart. It was all about physical release. Her heart wasn't at stake in Demitri's arms.
However, now she was being faced with the consequences of her actions, and it just wasn't worth it.
"I needed to talk to you. To fix this somehow," Marie said in a hoarse voice. She had never cried so much in a single day, and her voice was showing the effort it had endured.
"Fix this?" Anthony laughed bitterly standing up, and giving Marie a cold glare. He had never treated her like this, not even during their worst fights. This wasn't her Anthony anymore.
"What is there to fix?" he finally asked.
Marie sighed heavily, gathering what little strength she had left and said, "Our relationship Anthony. I love you so much I can't live without you. I'm willing to forget whatever is that you did with Tanya, if you forgive me for what I did with Demitri."
Anthony remained stony-faced. He had always worn his heart on his sleeve. Marie could always predict what he was thinking, or feeling from his expression. Now, he remained unmoving, unreadable.
Marie walked towards him in an attempt to press her case, to touch him and make sure that he was real, that they were still real.
The instant she moved, Anthony took a couple of steps back, avoiding her. He rounded the sofa and walked towards the door. Marie grew desperate, fearing that he might run again before she had a chance to repair their broken relationship. She followed him, decided to cling to him if it were necessary to make him wait.
"Stay where you are," Anthony commanded in an icy voice.
Marie forced her body to obey, even though all she wanted was to go to him, to hold him in her arms, and gain the absolution she needed to survive.
Anthony squared his shoulders, and spoke with a piercing tone. "Tanya and I had nothing to do with each other. If you want to, you can call Jacob, and ask him to tell you what really happened. Or if you won't believe my brother you could ask anyone who was around us at the time. I could even give you a list of witnesses, but they will all tell you the same thing: Tanya kissed me, and I didn't reciprocate. In fact, I almost instantly pushed her away. But of course you didn't stay to see that part. You immediately ran to the arms of your… your… whatever the hell he is to you. Your fuck-buddy, your friend with benefits, I don't really care anymore. All I care about is that I walked in on you fucking him, in your own fucking bed!"
By the end of his speech Anthony was yelling. Each of his words had cut through Marie's heart like a hot-iron, piercing, wounding, leaving a mark not even time could erase.
She had misconstrued the whole scene? Could it be possible that she ruined everything for nothing?
"So you and Tanya?" she asked fearing the answer like she had never feared anything before.
"Nothing, me and Tanya nothing."
Tears were streaming down Marie's face but they weren't typical tears of sadness. They say the eyes are the window to the soul; they are also the means through which your soul bleeds when it's wounded — or in this case, broken.
Marie hugged herself like she was trying to contain the broken pieces of her soul escaping her body. However, souls once broken cannot be easily glued back together like a broken vase. No, broken souls are almost impossible to mend or contain. They seep out of our bodies, dissolve into space, and get lost. She was a lost soul now.
Anthony stood near the door, wearing a pained look. He was struggling with himself. He wanted to console Marie, but his own pain was just too much to allow him the strength to be of any comfort. His soul, too, had left his body. He was soulless, empty.
"I love you…" Marie murmured in a soft broken voice.
"I do too," Anthony answered simply. "But it's just not enough. You've broken every piece of me. I have nothing left to give."
Marie's eyes were filled with sorrow, her soul already shattered, breaking into impossibly smaller pieces. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I was drunk, I was angry, I'm so sorry…" she repeated. She knew sorry was not enough. What she had done could not be taken back. She had destroyed the greatest thing she had. She always destroyed everything.
As if answering her thoughts he said, "Sorry just isn't enough anymore," and turned to leave.
"Please…" Marie whimpered.
Anthony sighed deeply, pressing his forehead to the door. It wasn't a frustrated sigh, or a longing one. It was an exhausted sigh; he could take no more.
"I can't…" he replied to Marie's plea. "I just can't anymore. If I stay I'll die."
"If you go I will," was her response.
"It doesn't matter," he added, turning to face her one last time. "I think we're both already dead, mon amour, and this is just our bodies having a pointless conversation."
And with that he left the room, closing the door behind him, closing his heart with it.
A wail rooted in the deepest part of Marie's chest could be heard through the entire house. The last piece of her soul had finally left her body.
-x-x-x-x-
Anthony walked outside just as his father was pulling up.
"Son! Son! Are you okay?" Carlisle asked concerned. The moment he walked outside he had seen the haunted look on his son's face and knew that something was terribly wrong.
Anthony clung to his father for support. He felt drained, and empty, on the verge of death. Only death could be this excruciating, he was sure of it.
"Please… please take me home," Anthony begged.
"Of course," Carlisle replied, and hurriedly helped his son to the passenger seat.
They pulled out and Anthony took one last look towards Rosalie's house. He had made up his mind. There was nothing left for him in Forks, only the ghosts of 'what if'.
-x-x-x-x-
Rosalie exited her room to make sure Marie was okay the moment she heard the car pulling out. She found her curled in the floor rocking herself and sobbing silently.
"What happened?" she asked dumbly. She didn't know what to say. She had heard parts of the conversation and from what she could tell it had ended badly.
"I ruined everything. I ruined it… I ruined it…" Marie repeated time after time.
Rosalie grabbed a throw from her sofa and wrapped it around the sobbing girl. She wished she could do something to help her friends. She wished she could do more.
They sat in silence until the dawn came. However, they never saw the sun as it rose in the horizon. The storm clouds remained.
-x-x-x-x-
Ring around the rosey,
A pocketful of posies.
ashes, ashes.
We all fall down.