She was at it again, and Emmett thought the pacing and glares were going to drive him nuts. Like any of it was his fault! He hadn't asked that bear to find him. He hadn't meant to leave his shotgun just out of reach, but he couldn't exactly have held the gun and cut down the trees at the same time. And he wasn't the one who had decided to grab some random stranger and irrevocably change him into a creature that shouldn't even exist!
No. That last had been all Rosalie.
Yet somehow, she wasn't to blame.
"I said I was sorry," Emmett muttered for what must have been the fifth time that hour.
"Don't worry about it!" she snapped. "It isn't as though I had bothered to unpack."
"Don't y'all move, like, all the time anyways? I mean, Edward was telling me..." Emmett trailed off at the glare he received upon mentioning her brother's name.
"Oh? Yes? What was Edward telling you, then?"
"Just, he 'n Carlisle had to move a lot when Esme was new, too."
"Well, don't expect me to go buying you a private island."
Emmett rolled his eyes and taped up the box he'd finished filling.
"You're only making it worse, you know," Edward commented blandly.
"Shut up!" Rose shrieked at him, causing Emmett to wince and shudder slightly.
"Thus, proving my point." That crooked smirk was on his face again, and Emmett had to fight to smother a laugh. It wasn't as easy when he was a creature that didn't need to cough now. "Anyway, weren't you just saying you didn't like the hunting here?"
Rose narrowed her eyes at Emmett. "Well, apparently I'm the only one!"
"What? I'm a vampire? Hello? What'd you expect me to do?"
"Oh, I don't know. Show some restraint for once?"
"Aren't you a fine one to talk!" Edward said, trying not to snarl as he thought of his car.
Rose heard the sound of her name being called and stalked outside. Edward tried to ignore their mother as she attempted to console the furious young woman. He and Emmett exchanged what-can-you-do shrugs and moved on to pack the next room. They'd only been in the new house for a week this time. Edward blamed himself for not hearing the neighbor's desire to welcome the family of vampires to the neighborhood, but he'd been absorbed in the book Emmett had been reading and missed the human's thoughts.
She had knocked, Emmett had inhaled in surprise, and that had been that. At not quite five months old, the newest Cullen had been unable to resist the scent of the blood flowing in the human who had come calling.
The time before that had been a gas station attendant.
And the time before that, had been one of Carlisle's own coworkers. Rose had been far more solicitous when Emmett had killed the doctor who'd been concerned over the number of days Carlisle had missed. Edward had heard the man's thoughts that time, but he and Emmett had been directly downwind of the human's approach, and apparently he'd gotten one of his patient's blood on his shirt cuff. It had been dried and stale, but it had been human, and far more appealing than the deer blood Edward was trying to encourage him to choke down.
Of course, that had been before Rose understood that he didn't happen to return her feelings of attraction, even if she had yet to figure out why.
Not that Rose wasn't lovely! Emmett freely admitted that she was probably the most beautiful woman he'd ever met.
She'd told Edward he was stupid when he'd suggested Emmett was intimidated by her good looks. The slightly sarcastic tone of his voice might have done more harm than good. Esme's belief that he was just unsure of himself yet, and Rose should give Emmett a little more time to adjust to their lifestyle had been received with slightly more grace. Carlisle didn't dare voice his thoughts, but Edward privately agreed with him. After all, he - Edward - hadn't appreciated being chosen for this life, either.
And so Rose's initial expectations of a whirlwind romance and everlasting love faded, to be replaced by confusion and hurt at Emmett's continuing rejections. She hadn't been forward with him at first; too used to being sought-after as the loveliest woman in any group, and he had accepted her easy friendliness in the same way he had Edward's. But when her attempts became more blatant, he could only play dumb for so long until the day she coaxed him to take her for a drive and he finally admitted that he liked her very much.
But that was all.
And then he said he was glad for her company because he missed his sisters.
Edward decided he hadn't really liked that car anyway. Probably for the best. The newer model had more features and would arrive soon. Until then, vampires didn't mind walking. Of course, they did mind when their favorite possessions ended up in charred pieces at the bottom of a ravine, but at least Rose hadn't been seen doing it.
"Esme talked her into going hunting," Edward said.
"Oh, thank God." Emmett abandoned his packing and flopped onto the couch.
Edward hid his smile behind his hand, but he couldn't keep the laugh out of his voice and he said, "You don't fool me. Vampires don't get tired."
"That's a load of bull. I'm sick and tired."
"Rose will grow on you; just give her a chance."
She's not the one I want on me.
If he'd still been human, Edward would have blushed, but as it was, he pretended not to hear and turned back to the box he'd been filling.
And there is something growing on me.
"Emmett." The word was the barest whisper, but he heard it anyway.
Rose is delusional, but you feel it too. I know you do.
"I'm your brother."
"Yeah, see, that line didn't work for me, either."
Edward couldn't help it; Emmett made him laugh.
Emmett openly admired the young man in front of him. Edward's hair was longer than it should have been, the messy, bronze tangles flopping where they would, but it looked so soft, and Emmett had wanted to run his fingers through it from the first time he'd seen it. Edward was young when he was changed and retained a boyish beauty to his features, but the strong cut of his jaw gave him a definite masculinity and caused a reaction in Emmett that had confused them both at first.
Emmett had grown up in a house full of girls just like the one who was trying for his affection now. He'd played with his sisters' friends any time they'd come over, and he'd enjoyed what they'd done to him, but once they were done, he'd lost interest quickly.
In the delirium of pain that followed the bear's attack, he'd opened his eyes to see a fierce goddess. It had been the wind that had roused him. She was sprinting over the forested mountainside at a speed that caused his eyes to water and his ears to ache, though he could barely feel her moving. Next he'd been aware of a burning, and assumed the goddess had banished him to hell. In the three days he'd spent burning, it had been Edward's velvet voice that had cut through the pain to reach him. Emmett hadn't been able to speak, but he hadn't needed to; Edward had known what Emmett needed to hear.
By the time he'd come to understand that Edward had known what Emmett was thinking because he could actually read it in his mind, it hadn't mattered. The younger-seeming man had caught his eye and his heart.
"Why do you fight it?" Emmett demanded. "Is it the humans?"
Edward turned back to Emmett with the intention of answering, but as soon as their eyes met, he lost what he'd been about to say and mutely shook his head.
Emmett rose from the couch and went to stand inches away from Edward. "Is it Carlisle? Cause I know it ain't Rose or Esme."
"N-no."
Emmett smiled, and his dimpled cheeks made Edward smile back automatically. "Then what? You can't tell me you don't want me." He glanced down at Edward's crotch, and his smile broadened.
"I could," Edward corrected. "But you'd know I was lying."
Emmett laughed, his voice low and full of satisfaction. If he'd still been a human, his heart would have been pounding as he reached out to run his fingers through the tousled hair he'd been dying to touch. Neither of them were prepared for the physical reaction they had. The moment he stopped denying them, the feelings of lust that had been building inside of Emmett overwhelmed Edward. He felt Emmett's desire as well as his own, and gasped in pleasure from the simple touch of Emmett's fingers against his scalp.
Prompted by the image in Emmett's mind and the sense of longing that went along with it, Edward tried not to be afraid as he stepped closer to Emmett and reached up to curl his arms around the taller man's neck. His long fingers made their way into Emmett's tight, black curls. The hair was neatly trimmed (courtesy of his sisters) but the curls made it seem shorter than it was, and Edward twined the strands around his fingers.
It couldn't be right, this. It went against everything Edward had been brought up to believe. But it couldn't be wrong, either. Not when it felt so right. Emmett bent his head toward Edward's. Their noses brushed as their eyes closed. Their lips were close, so close, the honey scent of Edward's breath mingling with the scent of freshly-mown grass that Emmett's carried, as they paused to simply breathe each other in.
"Emmett," Edward whispered a second time, and their lips met at last.
