All right! So here is my second attempt at a Twilight fan fic. I've got a number of chapters already written up, but I want to see how the response is before I release them all.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Host or any of its characters; they belong to the lovely Stephenie Meyer. I do however, own the plot.

Bella POV

I was standing in a room full of people, yet I hardly knew anyone. They had all introduced themselves as various members of my family; but they were so foreign to me, they could have been strangers off the street for all I knew. I was constantly looking out for the one and only person on this whole planet that mattered the most to me, but he hadn't shown up yet, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could last without him.

I sat on the couch closest to the door in the stuffy room, ready to bolt at any second while the people in the room mingled and talked around me in hushed voices. I couldn't bring myself to look over at the other end of the room at what I knew had all their attention; I knew what it was, yet I couldn't bear to look, and until he got there, I knew that I couldn't look at all.

My good friend Angela, whose face seemed to be the only familiar one in the crowd, came over and sat down beside me, enveloping me in a soft hug. She wasn't one for unnecessary talking, which was what I liked about her the most. She recognized that sometimes there was a need for silence and that every second of our time together didn't have to be devoted to talking. She reached over and took my hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze, asking a silent question. I gave her the smallest of smiles to assure her that I was doing okay to answer her. Angela knew that I was sick of being asked that question; I swore that if someone said that to me again I would scream.

She caught me looking over at the door again for about the millionth time that night and squeezed my hand again.

"He'll be here soon, you know. He wouldn't miss this for the world," she whispered to me softly.

"I know. I just wish he had arrived earlier; I feel so out of place here," I replied quietly.

"He would have been here that night, you know that. It's not his fault that the snowstorm kept his plane grounded. He'll be here," she assured me again.

I looked down at my hand that was resting in my lap on top of my black dress. It held a tissue inside of it that someone had pressed in my hand earlier, but I knew I would not need it. I was not one to show emotion, particularly to a room of strangers.

All I wanted at that moment was to be alone in a room by myself. I didn't want anyone probing me for answers or introducing themselves as another Great-Aunt that I had never met in my life. I needed one person right then, and his flight had been delayed yet again.

I checked my phone for the hundredth time that hour, but there were no new texts or voice mails except for the one he had sent me from the airport that to tell me he would be there in a few short hours. I checked the time; he was late. I felt almost sick to my stomach with worry about what could have possibly happened to him, and the thoughts running through my head were not exactly pretty.

Just then Angela's Dad came up to us and started speaking to me, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay any attention. I looked over at Angela and she seemed to understand the message that I was trying to convey and stood up to take her Dad aside to talk to him about the rest of this horrible event. I decided then that I needed some air; I couldn't stay in that stuffy room with all the flowers any more.

As I was walking towards the doors to outside I passed the front desk and all the people around it gave me sad and sympathetic smiles as they had been trained to do. I ignored them and continued my trek outside. I stood outside the building and wrapped my arms around myself as it was getting colder with the sun rapidly setting. The low sun reflected across the dreaded sign out on the front lawn of the building.

In those cheap plastic letters, it read, "Mr. and Mrs. Charlie and Renee Swan."

I tore my eyes away from it before they could travel lower to the name of the place, unwilling to admit that I was actually there at that moment. Instead, I became focussed on the crack in the sidewalk beneath my feet; it seemed to calm my nerves a little bit until he arrived. My head snapped up as I heard the sound of tires on the driveway and was extremely disappointed that it was only a hearse pulling into the parking lot. It came up the circular driveway and came to a stop in front of me, a second one following behind it. One of the drivers and the director of this event got out of the first one and walked up to me, and the latter began to speak.

"Everything for tomorrow is ready; these are the hearses that your mother and father will be travelling in to their plots. We will be ready for you to come in early tomorrow if you wish to see the closing of the caskets, then we will be heading over to the church and then the cemetery shortly after that."

I nodded and quietly thanked him. He could probably tell from the look on my face that I needed to be left alone and so the pair of them went into the building, leaving me alone outside. I took one look around and saw that no new cars were in the lot before crouching down and hugging my knees. Things would have been so much better if he were there to hold me and assure me that everything was going to be alright. I just needed him so bad and his stupid flight just kept getting delayed over and over again.

I put my head down on my knees and willed myself not to cry; at that moment I felt extremely vulnerable and alone. It was a huge world and there I was, sitting on the sidewalk outside of Jacksonville Memory Gardens Funeral Home by myself.

"Bella?"

I kept my head resting on my knees, sure that I was just imagining his deep rumbling voice. I convinced myself that I was hallucinating; if he were to arrive, I would have heard the car pull up. Instead, I let out a small, helpless sob.

"Oh, Bella!"

I heard footsteps running towards me and I looked up just in time to see his big frame swooping down upon me and his strong arms enveloping me in a hug. I turned in his arms and allowed him to fully embrace me. I wrapped my arms around his thick chest and rested my head against one of his shoulders and let him hold me. I almost felt whole sitting on the pavement with him holding me in his arms.

"Bella, oh Bella. I'm so sorry, honey. I'm just so sorry," he said to me, kissing my hair and holding me tighter against him.

"Emmett, you don't have anything to be sorry for, it was all my-" I started to whisper, but he interrupted.

"No," he said roughly. "Don't you dare try and blame yourself. We're not going to talk about this right now; we can talk later, but please, not right now," he pleaded with me.

I looked up into his brown eyes and saw the pain and hurt in them, nodding my head in compliance to his request. I would do anything to take away the pain in his eyes, and agreeing with him was the easiest way I knew how to.

Emmett loosened his hold on me to look at me fully. I knew I looked horrible. I hadn't gone out much in the days since it happened except to meet with the funeral director. I knew that I was an empty shell; my parents had meant the world to me and they had been ripped away like it was nothing. I looked up into Emmett's face and saw the grief written all across it and knew that he too was broken. He brushed the hair out of my face and kissed my cheek before closing his eyes, overcome with emotion.

I tried to remain strong for my big brother, but I couldn't hold it in any longer; I had been bottling up my pain and emotions and being with Emmett gave me the sense of security that I had been missing since it had happened. I allowed myself to completely break down; Emmett was the only thing I had left to live for, and my brother meant the world to me. I knew that he would not allow any harm to come to me, and I would do the same for him.

I broke down and started to cry in his arms, shaking with the effort it took not to fully release them.

"Bella," Emmett said, and I opened my eyes to look up at him and saw that he was looking down at me once again. "Bella, don't hold it in honey. You don't need to be strong for me, I am here for you. No harm will come to you; you don't need to hold back your tears."

I completely lost my composure after his little speech and broke down into violent sobs that shook my whole entire body. Emmett's arms tightened around me and I could feel his body shaking against mine also; he was crying with me. We probably looked like the most pathetic pair ever, huddled on the sidewalk sobbing in each other's arms, but I really didn't care at that moment. I had my big brother with me and I would allow him, and him alone to witness my grief.

After a few minutes, one of the funeral home operators came outside and cleared her throat. I looked up and recognized the artificial tan on her legs at once. Lauren cleared her throat again and both Emmett and I glared up at her.

"Yes?" Emmett asked with clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your little....gathering, but Mr. Weber is ready to commence," she said to us, coldly.

During the time I had spent at the Home, I tried to avoid Lauren at all costs as she was nothing but rude and cold towards me. I had no idea what exactly her problem was with me, but whenever we came in contact with each other, she made sure to belittle me and make me feel vulnerable under her gaze. I tried not to let it get to me though and be the better person, but it was very hard when she was constantly there and destroying any sort of self-esteem that I had.

"We'll be there in a second," Emmett replied.

"But he's ready right now," she started to protest but Emmett cut her off.

"I said we'll be there in a second. He can wait for us," Emmett repeated a little more harshly.

Lauren turned on her tall black heel and stalked back into the building, huffing on the way.

"What is her problem?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know. She's been rude to me a lot these last couple of days, and I don't know why," I whispered back.

Emmett glared after her before returning his gaze to my face. He sighed and brushed away the few tears that were still falling down my cheeks.

"Bella, you must think I'm a horrible brother; I should have been here days ago. You shouldn't have had to be alone and do all of this all by yourself."

"Emmett, it's alright. It's in the past. Besides, there's nothing you could have done about Mother Nature and her snow. You said it yourself; that snow this time of year was inevitable in Seattle," I replied, trying to get my strength back for him.

"I know, but all the same."

"Emmett, you got here in time; that is all that really matters now. Even if you couldn't make it to plan this, I'm glad that you got here in time for the actual event; there is no way that I would be able to do this without you, you're all I have left," my voice broke on the last few words and another sob escaped.

"Bella, I will always be here, you know that," I nodded and Emmett gave me one of his bone crushing hugs. "We should probably get back in there before that rat comes back out to get us."

I nodded and Emmett released everything but my hand and pulled me up to a standing position beside him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and I rested my head on his arm, as when I was standing up my head didn't reach his shoulder, and together we walked into the funeral home.

We walked into the parlour that our parents' coffins were in and the room fell into a hushed silence. Emmett led me to the front row of the chairs that had been set up for the small sermon and pulled two chairs close together so we could sit directly beside each other. Truthfully, I didn't want to leave him, but I also didn't want to look like a cling-on baby in front of our relatives, so I settle into my chair beside him. I still couldn't let him go altogether or I would fall apart and he seemed to realize this, so we held each other's hands; holding on for dear life. Mr. Weber looked over at us and Emmett nodded giving him the signal to start.

It was short and consisted of a few passages read from the Bible along with a small speech made by Mr. Weber about death and how it was inevitable. The service the next day would be longer and more in depth, but I had decided on a small sermon for that night as well.

When it ended, Emmett rose to his feet to shake hands with Mr. Weber to thank him and then our various family members descended upon him to offer their condolences. Emmett knew a lot more of those people than I did; he was four years older than I was and had experienced more family reunions than I had in our lives. We hadn't had one for awhile either because of some rift in our Mom's family, so they were that much more foreign to me. Angela came over and sat in the seat on my other side, giving me a small hug from my side. I hugged her back carefully.

"I know that you're hurting right now, Bella, but believe me, with Emmett here now it will only get better. It will hurt for a long time, but it will get better, I promise you."

I gave Angela a weak smile and returned her hug as gently as I could. Angela stayed with me until it was time for her and her father to go home, leaving me to go home with Emmett. She had been staying with me at my empty house since we had learned that Emmett's flights were delayed, as I couldn't bring myself to live in my house alone. There were too many memories that constantly bombarded me and I needed someone else there.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Bella," she said to me as she rose to her feet.

Instead of getting up myself, I looked up at her. "You're coming tomorrow?"

"Of course I am, Bella. I wouldn't miss this, I'll be there for you," she said before being swept from the room by her father.

Eventually the guests left one by one until it was just Emmett and I in the parlour alone with the two caskets. They were side by side, my mother on the left and my father on the right. I hadn't gone over to see them for myself; I couldn't bring myself to do it without Emmett with me.

Emmett came back over and kneeled in front of me where I was still sitting in my chair.

"Ready to go?"

"I guess," I replied, looking over at the caskets.

"Have you gone and seen them?" Emmett asked softly.

I shook my head.

"Neither have I. Will you come with me?"

Part of me wanted to shake my head 'no' and run screaming from the room, but I knew that it would accomplish nothing. Instead I bravely nodded my head and let Emmett take my hand again to pull me up from my chair as we slowly walked to the front of the room and to our mother's casket.

Emmett knelt down in front of it and gently tugged my hand for me to follow. We quickly prayed and then I slowly looked into the casket at my mother's body. She was wearing the light blue dress that I had picked out for her and she looked lovely. They had done her hair nicely and applied a little more make-up than she would have worn in her normal, everyday life, but it made her look incredible. I knew that the make-up was to help preserve her, and I was grateful for that; I wanted to remember her as the beautiful woman that she was, not some disintegrating corpse. My mother's arms were folded over her abdomen and it simply looked like she was sleeping. I tentatively reached in and touched her hand; it was as cold as ice, the blood would never pump through its veins again. Never again would her arms open for me; I would never feel her warm embrace, feel her tender kisses, hear her voice, and be witness to her life. She would never grow old, never attend my wedding or get to hold her grandchildren. I could feel that familiar lump in my throat and I choked back a sob.

"She looks lovely," Emmett whispered in my ear and I nodded. "We should go see Dad," he suggested.

We rose from Renee's casket and knelt down in front of Charlie's. We quickly said another prayer for him before I looked into his casket. He was wearing a light blue button up shirt that I had picked to match my mother's dress and a pair of grey slacks. My father was also sporting a little make-up and I smiled slightly at what his reaction would have been had he ever been forced to wear it in his life. My father's hands were folded also and I reached in to touch his hand. Like my mother's, it was ice cold and limp. This was not the Charlie that he had been a few days ago. That Charlie was living and breathing; he liked to tease me and ruffle up my hair just to get a reaction out of me. He would never do that again. I would never get to hear another teasing about how I never tanned, no matter how much time I spent out in the sun; that was his favourite topic. He would never get to fish again, and I knew that I would miss those occasional Sunday fishing trips with him. I did enjoy the time alone with him, even if I didn't tell him that as much as I should have.

Fighting back more tears, I rose and Emmett followed me. Together we walked from the room and Emmett talked to the director about tomorrow, I merely stood there empty, and let him take care of everything. Slowly we walked back outside and to my big lug of a truck.

"Emmett, how did you get here? You didn't drive, did you?"

He shook his head. "No, I was taking a cab over when it broke down about three blocks away from here. I walked the rest of the way instead of waiting for a replacement."

"That's silly," I said, climbing into the passenger seat, letting him drive. "You should have called me; I would have come and got you."

"I know. But it didn't kill me to walk, either."

I sighed as he turned the key and the engine roared to life. Carefully, he put my truck into drive and pulled out of the parking lot on to the main road. We rode in silence back to the house and I pressed my head against the cool glass, watching the world go by. It amazed me, I thought as we waited at a red light and a crowd of people passed in front of us, laughing and carrying on, that people could be so carefree and take their life for granted, when it could all be taken away from them in the blink of an eye.

I was so consumed with my thoughts that I didn't even notice that we were at the house until I heard Emmett calling my name.

"Bella are you okay? I called your name three times."

I nodded my head and pulled on the handle to open the door, hopping down onto the paved driveway. Emmett quickly ran over to me and stopped me before I could climb the stairs up to the porch, bag in his hand. I wondered where it had come from, but then I realized that he must have thrown it in there when he first got to the funeral home.

"You know that you can talk to me about anything, right? I don't want you to hold back anything from me, especially now, alright?"

I looked up into Emmett's eyes and nodded my head again before ducking around him and continuing up the stairs, stopping outside the door and waiting for him to open it as he was holding my keys. Emmett stood on the walkway for a few seconds, trying to really gauge my emotions. Once he had given up he climbed the stairs and unlocked the front door.

The lights were off as I had forgotten to turn them on before I had left that morning, not really thinking that far ahead. I quickly walked through the house and turned some on before collapsing into my chair at the kitchen table.

"Are you hungry Bells?" Emmett asked as he walked into the kitchen after me.

I knew that I hadn't really eaten anything as of late, but I wasn't hungry. I shook my head and Emmett frowned.

"Are you sure, Bella? You look like you haven't eaten in a while," he turned and opened up the fridge. "And there's nothing to eat in here."

"I'm fine, Emmett. I've been eating over at the Weber's lately, so I haven't been cooking," I explained, lying through my teeth.

I'm pretty sure that Emmett knew that I was lying because he was the one person in this whole world that knew me the best, but he didn't push it like I thought he would have.

"Well, do you want anything? I can go out and bring back something or run to the store quick," he offered.

"Honestly, Em I'm fine. I'm just tired so I'm going to shower and then go to bed, alright?"

He gave me a sad look before nodding. "I'll go and do some shopping soon though, okay?"

I nodded while getting up from the chair and headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Our house certainly wasn't massive or anything, but it had suited the four of us. It was cozy and was everything that we had needed while growing up. My room was upstairs on the end of the hall beside the bathroom and Emmett's was just beside mine. The night that my parents had died, I had closed their door and couldn't bring myself to venture into the room, or even look at their door for that matter. That was extremely difficult, seeing as how their room was right at the top of the stairs. The last few nights I had been 'sleeping' on the pull out couch in the living room because I simply couldn't bring myself to walk past it ever day. Angela had even gone up to get clothes for me and I had showered at her house, so that was the first time that I had ventured up the stairs in awhile.

I quickly averted my eyes away from the door when I reached the top of the stairs and swiftly walked into the bathroom, throwing the door closed behind me. I was breathing heavily as I started running the water when my tears began to fall so I could muffle the sounds of my sobs. With the water running I took a good look at myself in the mirror for the first time in days.

My hair was only somewhat decent because Angela had played with it earlier that day, trying to make it not look so pitiful. My face was sallow looking now and my cheeks were somewhat sunken; probably from the lack of nutrition. What caught my eye were the dark circles under my eyes. They were red and puffy from my crying, but the circles were still very visible. I had not slept a wink since the accident. Every time I closed my eyes, even for a minute, visions of their deaths replayed behind my eyelids and I would end up screaming out.

I stepped into the shower and let the hot water run down my body, prickling the skin with its warm droplets. I closed my eyes and started to stop the tears that kept running down my face. I had to start to pull it together it not for myself, but for Emmett. I couldn't let him see just how hurt that I really was; I needed to be strong. Emmett didn't need to feel my pain on top of his. He had just arrived into the nightmare, so he was a little high-strung and not the easy going brother that I knew, and my emotions would just give him added stress. I didn't want to do that to him.

I got out of the shower and carelessly towel dried my hair, not really caring about my refection any more. There was no point. Neither Emmett or Angela cared what I looked like, and they were the only two that I had in my life any more. I dressed in my pyjamas, stepping out of the bathroom and walked directly into Emmett.

"Sorry," I mumbled as his hands steadied me.

Emmett smiled softly. "I see that your co-ordination problems haven't sorted themselves out then, have they?"

I shook my head and tried to continue on to my room, but he held me in place.

"I know that right this second isn't the time to do this, but at some point could you please tell me what happened? All I know about this is what I've managed to dig up on the internet and what the hospital told me when they called; which wasn't much."

I looked up at Emmett. He deserved to know, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him right then. I was still trying to get over it myself and wasn't sure if I was strong enough just yet.

"Later."

"That's all I ask."

Emmett hugged me tight before releasing me and I slowly walked to my room, closing the door behind me, but not locking it. When we were little, we only locked our doors if we were really mad at each other. It was a stupid thing that we still did to that day. I leaned back against the door and rested my head against it as I heard Emmett sigh before walking into his room. I heard his door close, but not lock.

"At least he's not mad at me," I mused, climbing into bed and pulling the covers up.

I didn't know how long that would last though; he would surely be livid with me once I finally told him what happened that night, and I suppose I deserved it. My rational side was clearly not thinking that night, for I kind of wanted him to be mad at me for what had happened; everyone up until that point had been sympathetic and caring, and a part of me just really needed someone to scream at me. I mentally berated myself for thinking such thoughts, but I knew deep down in my heart that it was true. My eyes began closing on their own accord, and I couldn't fight them anymore; I was exhausted both physically and emotionally and for the first time in days I fell right asleep.

A/N: So? Good? Bad? Should we continue?
Please please leave a review so that I can get your thoughts!!

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