Because sometimes a split second decision changes a life… One night, Rosalie Hale walked a different way home. Because of this, she didn't meet Royce on the road and the worst night of Rosalie's life happened to someone else. So what happened when Rosalie was never hurt, never turned vampire, and got everything she had always thought she wanted?

After writing about Jane and the Volturi, I need to cleanse my soul. It's quite difficult to try and get into the head of a child serial killer, I must say. So I've gone back to my beautiful Rosalie and Emmett!

This story came about through a conversation that cropped up on Panlight, (over on tumblr, check it out if you haven't already!) about whether or not Rosalie and Emmett could have ever got together and made it work if they'd stayed human. It was concluded that it was pretty doubtful…well, challenge accepted! I'm going to write this and see if it happens for them, without that vampire magic.

I'm taking the three human!Rosalie chapters that I wrote for her version of All That I Am to be the first three Rosalie POV chapters of this. The other thing I changed from canon is their age- I've kept the two year age gap between them even though in the book they were born in the same year.

Chapter 1- Rosalie - Meeting the Monster.

"Girls! Rosalie! Wait for me!"

I paused, smiling across the sunny park as my friend Kitty came hurrying over the lush grass, one hand on her hat and the other hand swinging her purse.

"Hello darlings!" She linked her arm in mine and smiled brightly at Lacy and Anne. "I wasn't sure if you'd all still be here."

I glanced at my watch. "I shall have to go home soon. It's the banker's ball tonight…"

"I know! " Kitty squealed. "I've just been at the seamstress'…can you believe she still hadn't finished my dress this morning? I thought I was going to have to wear my sister's old dress." She sighed theatrically. "It's all done now though, and it's gorgeous!"

"You're so lucky to have a new dress," Lacy said enviously. "I DO have to wear my sister's old dress. But then, at least I'm allowed to go, I didn't think my mother was going to let me for a while."

Anne remained silent. She wasn't going to the ball, a fact that I'm sure rankled bitterly, especially since the rest of us were so excited and had been talking of little else all week.

"Have you decided what you're wearing Rosalie?" Lacy asked me.

I shrugged carelessly, although inside I was secretly gleeful over the beautiful new party wardrobe Mother had had made for me. Fancy ball gowns, beautiful tea dresses and afternoon gowns…I was complacently conscious of how pretty it all made me look, and I was impatient to be able to dress up and show off. I was nearly eighteen and the whole adult world of parties and dances and socialising was opening up to me, and I was alight with anxious anticipation. The banker's ball was going to be the biggest formal occasion I had attended, and I was determined that I was going to shine.

"I think the new pink silk," I said. I squeezed Kitty's arm. "It's going to so much fun!" I squinted over the grass, to where I could see a young mother and a baby, sitting in the shade under a tree. "Oh look, it's Vera and the baby. We should go and say hello, he's the most adorable thing."

Kitty gave me a sideways look. "Maybe another time."

I rolled my eyes a little defensively. Vera had been at school with us since the infant grades and the five of us had been a tight-knit clique. I thought it would stay that way, but when Vera left school at and married a carpenter the others had drawn away from her. I knew we didn't exactly move in the same social circles anymore, but I liked visiting Vera in her tiny house and found her company easy and relaxing. It was nice sometimes to be able to laugh and giggle and not worry about living up to the image of the poised and beautiful young lady I was trying to cultivate.

Then there was Vera's baby. Little Henry, with his dimpled cheeks and beautiful chubby hands that reached out to me with innocent happiness, aroused such feelings of tenderness in me that I was half embarrassed by my own emotions. He was so beautiful! Watching Vera hold his tiny newborn body while her husband looked on with such pride had made me, for almost the first time in my life, feel jealous. I wanted what she had. I wanted a husband who would love me and take care of me and look after me like I was his most precious possession, and I wanted my own sweet babies to lavish love and kisses on and make us a family.

"It's time I was going home anyway," I said. "I'll say hello to Vera on my way past." I smiled at the other girls. "Kitty and Lacy, I'll see you tonight! Anne…I'm sorry you won't be there, but we'll see you tomorrow back here in the park and we'll tell you about it. Goodbye!" Waving, I tripped off across the park, heading towards where Vera sat on a blanket with her baby, the baby carriage parked behind her.

"Rosalie," she greeted me warmly. "You look lovely today! How are you?"

"I'm good." I bent my face towards Henry. "And how's my little man?" I cooed. The baby smiled at me, plump cheeks dimpling and squeezing his eyes into little half moons and I laughed gently and gave him my finger, which he immediately caught up and moved awkwardly towards his mouth.

"He's getting a tooth," Vera warned me.

"Oh, I can feel it!" I looked up at her in wonder, feeling the hard tooth bud pressing into my finger where last week there had been only smooth gum. "Oh, he's growing up!"

Vera smiled at him softly. "Oh yes he is, aren't you my little sunshine? You're going to be a big strong man like your daddy soon!" She looked back at me. "What have you been doing?"

"Getting ready for the banker's ball," I said carelessly. "It's tonight, so I shall have to go home soon. Mother will be cross if I'm not there in plenty of time to get ready." I took Henry from Vera and bounced him gently on my knees, loving the way he waved fat little fists in the air and laughed. "I just had to come and say hello to you first."

"Perhaps you can come by during the week and tell me about the ball?" Vera suggested. "You'll have to tell me about all your conquests- I'm sure you'll be breaking hearts all over town!"

Both of us laughed, and I shook my head with a wicked grin. "I don't want to break any hearts…I just want to find someone handsome and rich and charming and perfect!" I giggle. "I'm hardly asking for anything much at all."

Vera hugged me, baby Henry caught between us. "I'm sure if anyone like that exists then you will be the one to find him Rose! Now much as I'd love for you to stay and chat, you should probably be going home or your mother will be very unhappy with you, and that won't be a good start to the evening."

"No, it wouldn't be." I kissed the baby and then snuggled him close, blowing raspberries into the delicious folds in his neck to make him laugh, not even caring when his strong little hands wound in my hair and pulled it loose. I untangled my hair and pretended to munch on his little starfish hands before I handed him back to Vera. "Here you go. You're right, I must go. Maybe tonight's the night I'm going to meet my perfect man…I'll be sure to tell you about it!"

With a bright laugh I jumped to my feet and hurried home, feeling anticipation fizzing in my belly. Maybe I would meet my own handsome prince at the ball? After all, I was seventeen and beautiful and ready…why shouldn't I get what I wanted? I always had before.

Mother was in the sitting room when I reached home, and she called me in to her.

"You didn't get too much sun out in the park?" she questioned, indicating the seat opposite her and pouring me a glass of lemon water.

"No, I'm fine," I replied, drinking it gratefully. "Thank you."

"Now Rosalie, I know you're excited about tonight. But I want to make sure you'll be on your best behaviour," Mother said sternly. "There will be many important and influential people at the ball, and your father and I are very anxious that you make a good impression. You're a young lady now, and the social connections you make now are going to be very important for your future."

In other words, look pretty and find yourself a husband. "I know all that Mother," I said, a little impatiently. "When have I ever done anything to make you and Father unhappy?"

Mother smiled. "You haven't. Your father and I are very proud of the way you've grown up Rosalie. He's hoping to introduce you to some new business acquaintances tonight, and I just wanted to make sure you were prepared. Now run upstairs and take your bath, I want plenty of time to do your hair."

I took my time in the bath, adding rose scented bath crystals and idly swirling my hands in the warm water as I lay back and relaxed. I wished my mother would stop making such a fuss- anyone would think I didn't know how to behave the way she went on sometimes. She acted like I didn't want the same thing that she and father wanted for me, which wasn't true at all. They wanted to see me settled and married well, and I wanted that too. They had stronger feelings about what type of man I should marry than I did, but in the end our goals were the same and I wasn't going to do anything to jeopardise that.

"Rosalie! Hurry up!" Mother scolded from the door, and I scrambled out of the bath and dried myself off before scampering down to my room. She had laid out the new underwear that had been bought specially for the occasion, and I carefully rolled the stockings up my legs and fastened the garters to keep them smooth. It felt slightly scandalous not to wear a brassiere, my breasts having grown big enough that I'd been wearing one since I was thirteen, but the dress would have shown the straps. I slid it up, and then stood in front of the mirror examining my reflection with a growing sense of pleasure. Oh, I looked beautiful! The dress was a dusky rose pink silk with a deep vee neckline, slightly gathered over my breasts and with thin straps over my shoulders. Tight from just under the bust line it flowed out from under my hips, emphasising all my curves, while the colour made my skin glow.

"Lovely," Mother said with satisfaction, coming in and standing behind me. She twitched at the skirt a little, and then reached down into the bodice to push my breasts into place, making my cleavage more obvious and pulling the straps tighter to hold everything where she wanted it.

"Mother!" I squirmed away from her, blushing furiously.

"Use what you've got, Rosalie," she said practically. "God blessed you with this beauty and you need to make the most of it. Just because you're pretty doesn't mean you can be lazy and not make every effort to look your best. Now sit down and I'll do your hair."

"We should think about cutting it," Mother said, brushing hard enough to bring tears to my eyes. "It's lovely long, but it's not very fashionable."

"I like it," I muttered, bracing myself as she began to style it. Mother was so heavy handed with my hair I'd be lucky not to end up bald. "I don't want to cut it." Cut my beautiful long hair? Was she crazy? If that's what it took to find a husband I'd be a spinster for the rest of my life.

Mother arranged it in a low chignon, tucking a spray of flowers into the knot when she was done. It looked beautiful, she was a painful hairdresser but the finished results were always good, and she nodded in satisfaction as she fastened the string of pearls I'd been given for my sixteenth birthday around my neck. "You look lovely, Rosalie, just perfect. Now go downstairs and wait for your father and I."

I was nearly finished my book by the time my parents were ready and came down the stairs. I jumped to my feet and smiled gaily. "Hello Father."

"You look lovely, princess," Father said holding out his arm and waiting for me to take it. "You'll be the belle of the ball, I shouldn't wonder." I took his arm and smiled up at him, and he began leading me out to the car, Mother on his other arm. "Now, some of the people you'll be introduced to tonight are very prominent and quite influential, so I want you to just look pretty and smile and be my sweet princess, hmmm? No arguing with people!"

He shook his finger at me with mock sternness, and I giggled and smile demurely. "Of course not, Father!"

The ball was being held at the town hall and was one of the biggest events on the yearly social calendar. This was the first year I'd been allowed to go and, even as I waited quietly and decorously for our turn to enter, inside I felt like I was dancing with impatient excitement. Everywhere I looked were people dressed up in their fanciest clothes, gorgeous gowns and sparkling jewels and handsome men everywhere. I knew my eyes were sparkling, and I felt a tiny little seed of self- satisfaction because I could tell that I was at least as pretty as any other girl there.

Almost as soon as we were inside I was asked to dance, and I didn't sit down again for a long time. I moved from one dance partner to another, feeling flushed with the exercise and quite heady with the number and extravagance of the compliments I received. Finally my mother caught me at the end of a dance and gently but firmly took my arm. "Rosalie dear, your father wants you."

My father was in one of the smaller reception rooms, talking to two men. Mother pushed me towards them and I took a deep breath and walked over as gracefully as I could. Something in Mother's tense face told me that whoever these people were, this meeting was what she and Father had been trying to prepare me for earlier.

Father gave me a broad smile as I approached and held out his hand. "There you are, Princess. Mr King, Royce, please allow me to introduce my daughter, Rosalie. Rosalie, this is Mr King and his son, Royce Junior."

I knew about the King family. Everyone did. They were the wealthiest family in Rochester, and I knew that Royce King Senior was my father's most important client at the bank. Money, position, power…no wonder my parents had been so anxious I make an impression.

I raised my eyes with a smile. Mr King was a tall, heavyset man with heavy brows and a fierce, square jawed face, but he smiled at me in a friendly enough way and nodded. I inclined my head towards him and then turned to his son, and my heart stuttered.

Oh. He was the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Tall and lean he had dark hair and eyes, and the same strong jaw as his father in his clean shaven face. His eyes caught mine with an almost hypnotic intensity, and I felt myself breathing faster as he smiled at me.

"The pleasure is mine," he murmured to my father, taking my hand and raising it to his mouth in an old fashioned gesture that set my heart hammering. "It's lovely to meet you, Rosalie."

Even through my gloves I could feel him pressing his lips against me. I prayed that he wouldn't feel the slight tremble in my fingers at his daring. This was no silly boy that I could flirt with and wind around my finger with a smile and a flutter of eyelashes, oh no. Even just looking at him I could tell that this was a determined man who always knew exactly what he wanted and would not let anything get in the way of him taking it. And now he was looking at me, his eyes raking from the top of my head down across my body in a way that made me feel suddenly disturbingly, deliciously naked in front of him. I could feel a blush heating my chest and pinking up my cheeks, and I dipped my eyes in confusion.

"Lovely to meet you at last Rosalie," Mr King said to me. "You're as pretty as your father said you were! And how old are you now?"

"Rosalie's a treasure," Father said, rubbing my shoulder fondly. "She's nearly eighteen now."

"Quite the grown up lady," Royce said with a laugh in his voice, his hand still curved around mine. His smouldering eyes met mine again. "Would you care to dance, Rosalie?"

Yes, please! Not trusting my voice, I nodded and let Royce lead me over to the dance floor, where he pulled me around to face him, one hand possessively on my lower back to hold me close to him. I could feel my pulse race. I'd been held like this all night by men dancing with me, but somehow this felt different.

"I've been noticing you all night," Royce said to me in a low voice as we moved across the dance floor. "You've been dancing and I couldn't help but watch you. You're very beautiful."

"Thank you. I've been having a wonderful evening," I said breathlessly. I looked up at him, feeling almost dizzy with attraction and excitement. From the corner of my eyes I could see other people watching us, and I knew that together Royce and I made the most eye catching couple on the dance floor. My stomach curled with arrogant satisfaction, and I looked up at Royce with a flirtatious laugh. "Although…I think perhaps it did just become a little better."

Royce's eyes glimmered, and I felt his hand on my back slide lower, the pressure of his fingers grazing lightly over the beginning curve of my buttocks and coming to rest on my hip. Once again a blush heated my cheeks. Royce looked down at me and laughed too. "I'm glad to hear that Rosalie…because I have to say that my night seems to be improving too."