Disclaimer: If I owned Twilight, the material would never, ever, EVER be considered preteen-appropriate. And there would be no Burger King promos.

This is not my first fanfic, but it is the first I've shared in years and definitely my first of the Twilight persuasion.

Emmett's POV

If someone had told me this morning that this afternoon I would be heading down the four-oh-one to a mental institution, I would have wondered if that someone had just escaped from one.

But here I am. On the freeway. In this tiny car. Which is too fucking warm. My arm keeps sticking to the leather upholstery every time I move and I have to move in order to prevent leg cramps. My knees are pressing into the damn dashboard. I suppose a single man has no need for a full-sized vehicle. I keep my complaints to myself however, because after an hour of arguing, Dad and I are on shaky ground and I'm not sure he would oppose to dumping me on the side of the road.

I told him last weekend that I would be stopping by to spend the day with him, but I guess it slipped his mind. I drove up his drive to find him walking to his car. The jeans and t-shirt were definitely a red flag. I've never seen him dress this casually. Not outside of the house. At first, I teased him about brushing off his eldest son to go have brunch with some MILF, but the look on his face only troubled me further. He didn't look embarrassed or apologetic or anything that I expected. His mouth settled into a firm line and his hand lifted to run through his blond, slightly graying hair. I recognized that body language. It was the same way he held himself after catching me in the back of my Jeep with Kate Denali. The I-Don't-Want-To-Deal-With-This-Shit look.

My first thought was: What kind of secret could my squeaky clean Dr. Dad be sitting on? Survey says…..

A shit storm apparently. All to do with Eddie-boy's ex from high school. Bella Swan.

Edward and Bella went their separate ways shortly after their graduation. Or more appropriately, Edward hopped a flight to Europe and yelled back over his shoulder that they should date other people. Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but with the way the story's told and considering how much of a prick he was in those days, my version isn't that far off.

Dad said that Bella had been a resident at Fairmount Facility for nearly a year now and he made time to see her at least once a week. It disturbs me that I'm so distant from my father that he could keep this kind of a secret without anyone having a clue. With our parents announcing their divorce and me moving a couple of states over for my first big post-college job offer that eventful summer, we hardly noticed when Bella slowly faded out of sight. She ghosted her way into town without any notice; we figured that she went out the same way. People in the town diner were talking about the 'for sale' sign in her yard the morning I skipped out of Forks myself.

A part of me felt guilty for allowing a person to completely fade from thought, but Bella never allowed herself to integrate into our family. She dated Edward for almost two years and no one managed to get stimulating conversation out of her. After some minor hounding on my part, she played a Call of Duty session, at which she was oddly skilled once she got the hang of it, and Mom called it a Christmas miracle.

I could see how most of the town thought she was a better-than-thou, spoiled kid, but with the aid of Google and some ties to the police department, Mom found out her story. Basically, she was an heiress to an Italian family. Three months before the people of Forks saw her moving truck, her father died of a heart condition, making her the sole beneficiary of a president's ransom. We couldn't find much on her mother, but there was enough information to assume that she was alive and well somewhere in Europe.

I've always wondered why she came here. Since she was emancipated, loaded, and according to Edward, spoke several languages, she could have moved to virtually anywhere in the world. Hell, Forks is only a couple of hours from Canada!

But…there are more pressing questions that need to be asked. God only knows how many are scurrying around in my brain, but when they get on the path to my mouth, the bastards evaporate and prance their vapory asses to the back of the queue. I wouldn't know what I know of the current situation if Dad didn't divulge most of it so freely. So I sit here thinking myself into a headache, staring out of the passenger side window.

I try to fill in the blanks myself for a while when I come to a lengthy one. There was quite some time between Ed and Bella's split and the beginning of her stay at the loony bin. Eight months or so if my calculations are correct, so I did manage to ask one question after an hour of wordless traveling:

"What did she do to get committed?"

After a few tense seconds, Dad simply replied, "She overdosed."

Now…the one thing I've always loved about fanfic is the direct interaction the writer gets to have with the readers. Keeping with that love, I want everyone to tell me how they'd like the story to progress. And not just romantically! Share your thoughts about any possibility. I have an outline, but things are always subject to change. ;)

The following chapters, if there is a demand or desire or even slight interest for more, will definitely be longer. Feel free to critique! I think I can take it…