TLS Special SNEAK PEEK Feature

The Lemonade Stand has spent so many years bringing you the best the Twilight fandom has to offer, and we are very excited to have the chance to offer you even MORE. We've watched stories grow and develop from first post through COMPLETE, and now we're lucky enough to share previews of the stories that will soon be your new addiction.

This week, TLS is featuring the talented MeteorOnAMoonlessNight, author of 1500 Acres, Seismic Shift, and Ex Delicto. She's giving us this exclusive teaser of her new fic Heart of Stone.

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Heart of Stone
by
MeteorOnAMoonlessNight

Summary: Struggling through tragedy and betrayal, Edward believes he’s living in a cold and loveless world with no choice but to harden his heart. He’s only living a numb half-life as his sole focus becomes revenge. If he forgets his true reason for living, is there anyone who can get through to him?

~0~0~0~

As so many of my stories do, this began with a song. Not just the song itself, but the video for the song. It broke my heart. I had goosebumps, and by the end I was crying. I knew immediately that I had to write it out, to give it a full life. But the end was devastating and I had a strong reaction over that. I could change that outcome. I could make it into something of my own and end it differently.

As I wrote the story, it evolved. It’s Edward’s story at its core, but it also became about his relationship with Emmett and their brotherly devotion. They’re only a year apart in age, and they’ve always been best friends. They’ve gladly helped each other through everything in life from school to girls to opening a business together. When Edward suffers a tragedy, Emmett is the glue holding Edward together. When Edward focuses on revenge, Emmett begins to wonder how far he would go to help his brother out.

Emmett dug through the fridge until he had the makings for sandwiches and then stood at the island counter and watched his brother.

“You gonna make it?”

Edward nodded, scrubbing his face roughly before getting up and grabbing two beers. Emmett’s eyebrows went up into his hairline as Edward sat with both of them.

“And here I thought one of those was for me.” Emmett slapped a piece of cheese onto the bread in front of him and closed the sandwich he’d made for Edward. He wasn't normally one to judge, especially not when it came to his older brother that he typically thought walked on water. Once upon a time, Edward had everything Emmett wanted: a devoted wife, a baby, a house, and a business of his own. He’d helped Emmett get a carpentry apprenticeship so he would know the ins and outs before they opened Cullen Brothers Carpentry. Emmett had never been made to feel like he was trailing along after Edward, even when that was exactly what he was doing. He would go to any limits for Edward, including mopping him up off the floor after he got piss-drunk.

He made a second sandwich and got himself a beer before setting the food on the table and joining his brother. They ate in silence, both staring out the bay window into the backyard. The sun was on its way down, painting the grass in the last golden rays of the day.

“It’s night again,” Edward commented right before swallowing the last of the first beer.

“It’s only been a little more than forty-eight hours.”

“Forty-nine hours, thirty”—he glanced at his watch—”five minutes, and a handful of seconds.” He bit down on the sandwich without actually tasting it.

“I know, Edward. I do. It doesn’t matter if it’s been thirty minutes or thirty days. It’s too long.”

There was silence between the brothers for a long time.

“I’m going to kill them.”

Emmett froze with the beer bottle halfway to his mouth. He turned his head slowly to look at Edward, who was still staring blindly out the window. A dozen thoughts flung themselves through Emmett’s head. Would he stop him? Could he blame him?

Would he help him?

He chose not to say anything as Edward twisted the cap off the second bottle of beer. They continued to eat in silence, a silence that slowly engulfed Edward like an evil entity. It crept, leisurely but steadily, from the edge of the white linoleum, toward the table and chairs, toward the pair of men that were trying to put one foot in front of the other under the enormous strain of what happened.

“I can’t keep doing this. This isn’t living,” Edward suddenly said. “You babysitting me because I can’t keep my shit together, abandoning your pregnant wife for your pathetic excuse of a brother.”

“Hey, I want to be here,” Emmett tried to interject.

But Edward was engulfed in the tidal wave of hate and revenge and loneliness until it burned in his heart. “It’s bullshit, Em!” He stood, knocking the chair into the wall and towering over his seated brother. “You need to go back to work tomorrow. Or, fuck, spend a whole day with Rose. Something other than wasting what you have on me.”

“I don’t consider it wasted!” Emmett stood as well, his voice matching the volume of Edward’s. “I know it sucks. It’s the worst thing that could have happened, and it shouldn't have happened to you. I wish I could take some of the burden off your shoulders. Don’t you see?” He put his hand on Edward’s shoulder, watched as tears brimmed over the eyes that matched their mother’s. “That’s why I’m here. I want to ease your suffering in any way I can. I’m sorry it isn’t the same as having her back.”

"I know you're trying." All his strength vanished as he collapsed back on his seat. "I'm not blaming you. I'm not trying to make it sound like you're not doing enough. You being here, Dad being with me, it's the only thing keeping me sane."

"Dude, you're not sane anymore." It was said in a light-hearted manner, but neither of them laughed.

This is easily the most angst-ridden story I’ve ever done, and I know it won’t be for everyone. I almost decided not to write it because of my doubts about anyone wanting to give it a chance, but then I realized that even if no one read it, I had to write it. I wrote it for me, but I hope others will enjoy it as well.

~0~0~0~

Be sure and put MeteorOnAMoonlessNight on alert so you can follow along with us!