Summary: Emmett McCarty is taken into the Cullen family after being kicked out by his mom for stealing and crashing a car. Edward, the Cullen's son, quickly befriends Emmett and shows him the ropes of living in Forks. He meets Rosalie, the clean-cut, good-girl who lives next door to Edward, and forms an instant crush on her, while Edward longs for Rosalie's best friend, Isabella Swan. OC style. All human.

CHAPTER ONE

"Sorry it's not much," Dr Carlisle Cullen fluffed a third pillow, adding it to the pile on the bed of the pool house. He straightened the blanket – the third, too – while Emmett stared at him blankly. Not much?

"You'll be alright though, won't you?" he continued, facing Emmett with a smile on his face. "For the night, at least, before we can find you something better."

"Um," Emmett didn't know how to answer, so he shrugged. He didn't really know what to make of any of it. It was all too crazy. Too much.

Carlisle smiled again, patting Emmett on the back. "Will you join us for dinner? Fifteen minutes," he said. "We're having steak."

"Sure," Emmett managed a smile. Carlisle nodded before stepping out of the pool house, closing the glass door behind him. Emmett breathed out heavily, sitting himself down on the edge of his new bed. Wow, he thought, feeling the cotton blanket that was draped over the end of the bed. Smiling, he fell back, the feather pillows softly beneath his head.

Carlisle watched him through the kitchen window for a few minutes. He sipped a small tumbler of whiskey slowly, finding himself laughing at Emmett who was touching everything in the room like he'd never had one – a lamp, or a bed, or curtains – before.

"What were you thinking?"

Carlisle spun around, spilling a little whiskey on the floor as Esme approached him. She had a pained look on her face, staring at him with wide eyes. Carlisle shrugged his shoulders innocently.

"He needs thi–"

"What he needs is to be in a cell!" Esme said, placing a hand on the breakfast counter for support. "He's a criminal, Carlisle. We can't have him here."

"We can't?" Carlisle raised an eyebrow, downing the last of his whiskey before placing the empty glass by the sink. He stepped forward, kissing his wife softly on the top of her head and placing his hands comfortingly on her hips. Esme sighed, defeated.

"I'll give it a try," she said, a smile nearly finding its way towards her mouth. "But if he's any trouble, and I mean any, he's out."

"Carlisle?"

Both of them turned towards the sliding doors which were now half open. Emmett stood in between them, playing with his hands and staring at Carlisle and Esme. "Do you mind if I go for a quick walk?" he asked.

"A walk? Where?" Carlisle asked, filling up his glass again. Esme stayed quiet, staring at the floor.

"Down the drive," Emmett half-smiled, but then his expression returned serious. "I've got a headache."

"Sure," Carlisle said, raising his glass. "Go ahead. But dinner–"

"In fifteen," Emmett nodded, "got it."

He walked through the large house and towards the front door, and then out onto the drive. The Cullen's cars looked untouched – too shiny and new looking – though it'd been just a few hours since he'd been in one. He shook his head in disbelief and carried on walking out onto the sidewalk, pulling out his pack of cigarettes and taking one out.

"Who are you?"

He almost dropped the now-lit cigarette. He held it between his teeth, playing with it, and turned towards the next drive. He had barely noticed that house when Carlisle had brought him here, thinking that the Cullen's lived in this part of town and nobody else, it was that restricted.

He thought for a moment, before breathing out a cloud of grey smoke. "Whoever you want me to be," he leant forward as if it would make a difference and it would make him closer to the other drive.

The girl looked him up and down as he turned away. "Okay," she muttered, a small laugh playing on the word. Emmett nearly smiled. "Hey," she went on, and he turned to her again. "Can I have a smoke?"

Emmett didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward and handed her one. She leant forward this time, lighting up her cigarette with his. As they both leaned back, she smiled. "So what are you really doing here?"

"Really?" Emmett asked. "I'm not sure you can handle that."

"Try me," the girl turned to him briefly. Emmett nodded.

"Alright," he mumbled, his tone growing louder as he spoke. "Well, I stole a car. Crashed it. My brother's in jail but I got let out because I didn't have drugs on me and I wasn't drunk."

The girl blinked, but instead of asking questions about it, something else amused her. "So," she said, "you're the cousin from Boston?"

Emmett blinked. "Yeah," he said after a moment, "I guess I am."

"Rosalie!"

Both Emmett and Rosalie dropped their cigarettes, coughing awkwardly as Dr Cullen joined them. He grinned widely, patting Emmett's shoulder. Rosalie smiled. "Hey Dr Cullen. I was just meeting your nephew."

Dr Cullen seemed confused for a moment, his eyebrows burrowing together before he realised. "Oh! My favorite nephew," he patted Emmett on the back again, harder. "Emmett. All the way from Tennessee."

"Tennessee?" Rosalie laughed, turning to Emmett.

"My mom's from Boston," he explained, "dad from Tennessee."

Dr Cullen quickly changed the subject. "So we're all looking forward to your fashion show fundraiser tomorrow night," he smiled warmly at Rosalie.

"Really?" Rosalie said as a car pulled up from the end of the road. While Carlisle laughed, Emmett stared directly at the car.

"No," Carlisle said honestly. Rosalie laughed again, finally turning her attention towards the car as the person inside beeped the horn.

"Just a second!" she said, turning again to Emmett. "Well, you should come along tomorrow. If you don't have any other plans."

She turned towards Royce in his car, opening the door and kissing Royce's lips as she fastened her seatbelt. Royce stared at Emmett before laughing. Who's that? Emmett heard him scoff.

As the car pulled out of the road, Carlisle took his hand off Emmett's back and rubbed his hands together. "Come on," he nodded towards the house. "Steak's getting cold."

The dinner was unusually quick for the Cullen family. Esme didn't say a word as she dished out the meal, and not even throughout the prayer. Edward ate quickly, not paying any attention to Emmett. He dashed off towards the living room, resuming paying his videogame. Carlisle seemed to be the liveliest.

"Hey," Emmett reached forward to help Esme with a few plates she was carrying after desert, "let me help you with that."

"No," Esme shook her head. "That won't be necessary."

Carlisle caught his glance, shaking his head as if to say don't worry. Emmett nodded at him, distracted slightly at the loud noise of cars screeching and people yelling. He vaguely remembered the game Grand Theft Auto from when his brother used to play games on stealing cars, not actually do it in real life.

"Hey," Edward said as Emmett came into the living room doorway, switching the game onto pause mode and holding up a second controller. He looked flushed and a lock of messy, bronze hair fell above his eyebrow. "Wanna play?" he pushed the hair away with the back of his free hand.

Emmett thought for a moment, turning to look out at the dark night's sky. He pondered before Edward sighed. "It's okay," he pulled back the controller and fixed his eyes back on the screen. "Doesn't matter."

"No," Emmett said, getting down on the floor and sitting down next to Edward. He leant over to get the second controller. "I will."

Edward smiled. "I'm Edward."

"Emmett."

"Yeah," Edward chuckled, turning back to turn on the game. "I know."

"What?" Emmett raised his eyebrows. Edward shrugged, not even seeming a little distracted as he raced from the sound of police sirens.

"You live in Forks now," Edward reminded him, "you're going to have to get used to everybody knowing your name."

When Emmett woke up the next morning, he smelt coffee – the good, expensive kind – and waffles. Some pancakes, too, he decided. And syrup. Lots of syrup.

"Good morning," Esme said lightly as Emmett stirred in his bed. He grunted, sitting up and leaning against the backboard. He spotted Esme standing at the end of his bed with a tray in her hands. "I brought you some breakfast."

Gratefully, Emmett took it out of her hands. She had even added a glass of orange juice and a flower in a tall, slim vase. Picking up a fork, Emmett looked up. "Thanks," he said. "For everything, though. Not just the food."

"That's okay," Esme said, obviously out of her comfort zone. What do you say to a criminal? She hadn't had this experience before. "So I was just wondering–"

"When I'm leaving?" Emmett didn't flinch. He picked up a fork and dug into his pancakes, swilling it down with a mouthful of orange juice afterwards. "Don't worry," he reassured her. "I won't stay long."

Esme was about to say something else, but Emmett had already answered her unspoken question. She coughed anxiously, smoothing out her hands with her palms. "Carlisle rented you a suit for tonight's fundraiser. Marc Jacobs," she added as if Emmett knew what that meant. "Anyway, eat up."

Emmett glanced up as she left quietly. Placing his tray down, he sighed, running his hands through his short, dark hair before the door opened again.

"Knock knock," it was Edward. He'd already opened the door and was making his way towards a seat opposite Emmett's bed. Emmett stared at him widely.

"Sorry, man," Edward noticed the tense atmosphere, apparently, as he got up to leave, having only been sitting down for about twenty seconds.

"No," Emmett said, picking up the tray again and stuffing his mouth with the rest of the pancake he'd started. They were good. Better than anything he'd ever eaten before. "It's okay. Stay."

"Okay," Edward said. "In all honestly, I wasn't going to leave." Emmett would have laughed, had his mouth not been full with orange juice. "So," Edward continued. "About the fundraiser tonight–"

"You going?"

"We have to," Edward stared at him as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. In Tennessee, Emmett had never been to an event before. Not once. Not even a birthday party. "What? You weren't planning on ditching were you?"

"Not ditching," Emmett shook his head, his mouth full now with waffles. "It's just not my thing." He shrugged, going back to the food on his tray. He felt a little sick now, but the food was too good to leave.

"When was the last time you ate?"

Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Dinner. Last night. Why?"

"You're eating like you haven't seen food before," Edward said, ignoring every aspect of the previous conversation. Emmett shrugged.

"It's good food."

"I can't tell the difference," Edward said. "It's–"

"You grew up with it," Emmett said. "You're used to being treated. I'm not. Remember?"

It sounded far worse than what it'd sounded like in his head. Emmett stopped eating and rubbed his fingertips on a napkin, not looking up as he heard the door open.

"You know," Edward said. "You've got to stop cutting me off like that." Not unkindly, though, because when Emmett looked at him, he was smiling crookedly. "See you at the fundraiser tonight."

Emmett spent most of the day sleeping. Carlisle had left for work early, leaving Emmett a note on the kitchen table, knowing that Esme would have left to get a dress for the party, and Edward would be out doing … whatever he does.

Emmett, realising that nobody was home, got a proper look around the house. There were, in total, three game rooms, two living rooms, one pool house – his pool house, for the time being – and a kitchen in both the basement and the first floor. There was dining rooms the size of a school auditorium, nearly, and a gym, three bathrooms, but surprisingly, only enough bedrooms so Emmett would have to stay in the pool house.

If he stayed, that was. He wasn't sure where he was going to go, after this, but it was clear that not everybody wanted to stay. As he pushed open a sliding door and laced his hands over the edge of the balcony bars, he sighed.

"Jasper!" came a woman's voice. His head snapped up, thinking that it was from inside the Cullen's house. But when he looked down, he saw a blonde woman coming out of a side door from the house next to him.

"If you don't hurry up," she went on, "I'm going to leave without you."

He made sure he was hid well enough – behind a tree – so that the woman didn't see him as a boy, Jasper, came out. He was different from what he'd expected for a woman of that class. He was wearing cowboy boots, a rough, brown leather jacket and a matching color cowboy hat.

Jasper frowned. "I'm here," he said gruffly. The woman rolled her eyes.

"Where's your sister?"

It was clear to Emmett now. The woman, and Jasper, was Rosalie's relatives. He came out from behind the tree, leaning against the wall and pulling out a cigarette as Rosalie came running out of the house after her mom and brother who were already getting inside of a mini red convertible.

By the time Carlisle had returned, Emmett was sprawled lazily on his bed, finding nothing interesting to buy the time. He'd already showered, using the new, name brand shampoos and shower gels that Esme had left him in a bag. Upon noticing the darkness of the sky and Carlisle's concerned voice shouting his name, he shot up from his bed quickly.

"Are we late?" Emmett ran his hands through his hair, pulling down the ends of his loose hooded jacket. He didn't particularly want to go to the fundraiser, but after dwelling around all day doing nothing; it seemed like a good thing to do.

"No," Carlisle said, rubbing his own, dusty blonde hair with his knuckles. "But we will be." He passed forward Emmett the Marc Jacobs suit that Esme had told him about. "Sorry," he went on as if it were his fault. Emmett shook his head.

"It's okay," he mumbled, "um–"

"You best be getting ready," Carlisle said, handing Emmett a tie and quickly shuffling out of the pool house. "See you soon."

"Yeah," Emmett said, but Carlisle was already passing past the pool towards the main house. He smirked as he picked up the dry cleaned and pressed suit. He pulled it out of the package and quickly dressed into it, feeling immediately out of place.

"Are you ready yet?"

He turned, spotting Edward standing by the door. Emmett shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. It was a relief to him that Edward didn't exactly look like he fit in, either.

"Don't worry," Edward said, "we don't have to look good. We just have to make an appearance."

The hall in which the fashion show was being held had been decorated with white and gold everywhere. The made up stage, a long catwalk running in a thin line through half of the hall, held a DJ station at the back with music bobbing in the background. The seats, all plastered around beautifully decorated tables, had folded name tags on each one.

As Emmett finally found his way towards the Cullen table, after awkwardly passing through crowds of people who looked at him curiously, he collapsed into his seat, breathing a sigh of relief. A waiter handed him a glass of champagne and he shook his head, not bothering to look up.

"That's okay," he heard Esme say, "no thank you."

Emmett looked up at her and she raised her eyebrows. "Be polite," she mouthed, taking a sip of her own champagne. Emmett nodded, turning back to the waiter to take the champagne, but he'd already gone.

The fashion show started with loud, pop music blaring through the hall. As Rosalie introduced the show, her eyes glazed around the place. When she noticed Emmett, she smiled. "I hope you enjoy the show," she spoke into the microphone, still smiling as she turned towards the back of the catwalk, introducing her friend. Edward tensed from next to Emmett.

"What?" Emmett asked.

"That's …" he stared at the stage, his mouth open agape. "Bella Swan."

Emmett turned back to the stage, seeing the brunette friend of Rosalie walk confidently towards the end. She placed a hand on her hip and flashed a grin to the crowd before turning back to the end and disappearing behind the curtain. She hugged Rosalie tightly before letting go.

"Oh …" she pulled off her heels. "My …" she pulled out a clip from her hair making it fall loose against her bare shoulders. "God!" she screamed, blushing a deep red. She smiled, none the less.

"You were amazing!" Rosalie protested, giggling. She pulled out a bottle of champagne from a plastic bag at the side of the clothes rack and gulped some, passing the bottle to Bella. She shook her head.

"No thanks."

Rosalie shrugged, turning around to walk to the end of the stage. Bella slipped on a pair of flats and followed, leaning over Rosalie, watching the fashion show continue. They passed the champagne bottle between them until it was finished and it was time for Rosalie and Bella to join the other models on stage and collect things like flowers, chocolates, and announce the grand total of money raised.

"Where now?" Bella skipped alongside Rosalie, flashing grins at people around her who congratulated her. Rosalie rolled her eyes, laughing.

"I don't know," she said but stopped at the edge of the door of the courtyard where people in her grade were smoking and sharing alcohol, far away from the parents in the main hall. She saw Emmett, standing next to Edward Cullen, playing with an empty plastic cup in his hand.

"Emmett!" she said, pulling Bella along to see him. The champagne made her feel light headed and dizzy and she almost fell. "Oops," she giggled. "Sorry."

Emmett widened his eyes. "Whoa, are you okay?"

Before Rosalie could answer, Bella scoffed. "Who are you?" she said, slurring slightly. She was more of a lightweight than Rosalie. "And why are you touching my best friend?"

"I wasn't–"

"Bella this is Emmett," Rosalie told her, smiling at Emmett. "He's Edward's cousin and he's staying with the Cullen's for a while."

"Who's Edward?" Bella muttered, sipping from a plastic cup. Rosalie caught her before she could fall.

"Easy there," Rosalie whispered before turning back to Emmett. "Sorry. I'm going to have to–"

"No, that's fine," Emmett smiled. "Go ahead."

Before Rosalie could manage to even lead Bella away, Royce was already yelling from the other end of the courtyard. Rosalie gritted her teeth together, sighing. "Royce," she began, but he had already made a B-line towards Emmett.

"Hey, buddy," Royce began harshly, "just saw ya talking to my girlfriend."

"Royce, man," Edward started, appearing from seemingly nowhere. But when he saw Bella, he stopped himself from talking and froze. "Er, never mind."

"No," Royce glared directly at Edward. "What? What is it?"

"Nothing I was–"

Royce's clenched fist came towards Edwards face, hitting his nose and shedding a little blood. Edward stumbled back, falling down onto a drinks table. "You have a problem with me?" Royce yelled. He was obviously drunk. "Huh? Do ya?"

He seemed to have forgotten about Emmett and turned towards Rosalie, grabbing her and kissing her lips. Rosalie struggled against his hold while an ever growing crowd gasped as Emmett stepped forward, grabbing a hold of the crook of Royce's neck, pulling him away from Royce. He slammed onto the concrete floor but quickly regained himself and stood up, ready to hit Emmett. He wasn't even nearly quick enough, though, as Emmett's white knuckles connected with Royce's face.

"Oh my God," Bella mumbled. Rosalie nodded, tears stinging behind her eyes. Quickly, and without thinking, she turned and ran. Bella followed soon afterwards and Royce's cries of pain soon became quieter.

"Here," Edward passed Emmett an icepack. "I never did get a chance to thank you for–"

"Doesn't matter," Emmett replied, leaning back against the kitchen counter and closing his eyes.

The night before had proved to be a disaster, just like Emmett had imagined. After punching Royce – and apparently it was his fault the drinks table broke – Carlisle and Esme drove them both home straight away. They hadn't said one word to Emmett and when they pulled up to the house, Esme had scurried away to her bedroom, ignoring Carlisle. As soon as she'd slammed the door, Carlisle turned to his son and Emmett.

"What happened, boys?" he sighed. It didn't seem like a question so they stared politely on cue, not saying a word. Carlisle paused for a minute. "I've got to go," he loosened his tie, "see if Esme's okay. I'll speak to you both in the morning."

But he hadn't spoken to them. He'd gone away to work, leaving another note with we'll talk later written on it. Esme had gone, too, presumably to work or maybe shopping again. Anything to get out of her house and away from the criminal, as she called him.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked. When Emmett opened his eyes, he saw Edward staring at him nervously. In the morning light, it was clear that he had a black eye and a bruised lip. Royce must have hit him hard, but not as hard as Emmett had hit Royce.

Emmett closed his eyes again, not answering Edward's question and instead breathing deeply through his nose. He almost wished that he was back home because no matter how much his life was screwed up there, it was nowhere near as bad as what had happened here.

Somewhere between closing his eyes for the second name and the doorbell ringing, Edward had slipped off. He went to play his game and it was clear as the sound of people screaming and cars beeping flooded through to the kitchen.

Emmett opened his eyes again, trailing miserably towards the door. He sighed as he opened it, but he wasn't expecting to see who he did.

"Hey," Rosalie said, placing her hands into her jeans pockets. "I just came to see if you were okay."

"Yeah," Emmett said, leaning against the door frame. "I'm okay."

"You don't look it …" Rosalie said, trailing off at the end. She squeezed her eyes shut for a second before laughing nervously. "I mean, you look tired, and hungry, and your hand …"

"I'm okay," Emmett repeated, sighing. Rosalie nodded.

"Well–"

"Look, I'm not sure now is a good time," Emmett said. Rosalie stared at him, taken a back. "With everything that went on with Royce, I'm not sure that … Well, I don't think I'm going to be here long enough for us to be friends, anyway."

"What?" Rosalie asked, hoping that she'd misheard that whole thing. "You mean …"

"I'm leaving," Emmett finished her sentence, nodding. "Yeah."

"And the Cullens. Do they know?"

"They don't need to know," Emmett shrugged. "They're going to kick me out anyway. What's the point in waiting until the time is right for them?"

"Emmett–"

"Don't," Emmett shook his head. "Look, I think you should leave."

Rosalie stayed still for a moment before turning away from the house as Emmett closed the door. She walked, getting faster with each step, towards her house, towards her up-tight, self-absorbed mother and towards her boyfriend who she wasn't even sure she wanted to see anymore. She walked, and when she reached her house, she slammed her door shut, running straight to her room.

"So you're really leaving?"

Emmett jumped and quickly turned. In front of him, Edward stood with two controllers in hand. Emmett sighed, nodding his head. "Look, man, I–"

"No!" Edward shook his head. "You're running from your problems like they can't be fixed but …"

He didn't continue. Instead, he turned, throwing a controller on the floor and slamming the living room door shut. Emmett waited until he heard the sound of the cars and people before sighing again.

He retreated to the pool house and packed whatever he had left. In a neat pile on the bed, he left the suit and tie that Carlisle had rented with a simple note which said

Thank you.

AN – I hope you enjoyed! Please review so I know whether to continue or not. (: Btw, if anybody here actually watched the O.C, this story isn't going to be exact, but it'll follow a lot of storylines. And if you didn't watch the O.C, you're seriously missing out. Best show ever!