AN – Thank you for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this (slightly longer) chapter.
Also … Disclaimer: I think if I could, I would just copy and paste everything Seth Cohen said and place it in my story. He's just too funny. And he's also exactly how I pictured my Edward (not looks wise … I love Rob). So, if any of the quotes seem familiar … They belong to the creators of The O.C while the characters of course belong to Stephenie M.
CHAPTER TWO
It only occurred to Emmett that he didn't actually know where he was going when he reached La Push.
He vaguely remembered the place from only a few days ago when Carlisle Cullen had driven him from the police station towards Forks, but other than that, it was strange and peculiar to him. He didn't know what he was going to do and where he was going to go.
He carried on walking until he heard rustling in a nearby bush and froze on the spot. Thinking it was just a squirrel; he started off again steadily, but physically had to stop when somebody in a wheelchair rolled themselves out in front of him. Literally.
The man, around Carlisle's age or possibly older, turned himself so he was facing Emmett. Then, his face set to stone and he glared right at Emmett's eyes. "What are you doing in La Push, boy?" he asked gruffly.
"I …" Emmett started. Ran away? he thought. The words somehow didn't leave his mouth when he tried to speak, like he was lying, so he settled for a shrug. The man in the wheelchair looked less than impressed, but thankfully a boy of about sixteen with long, tatty hair came and put a hand on the man's shoulder, stopping him.
"Dad," he groaned, rolling his eyes. His voice seemed not to match his body. He was buff, sure, but his long hair and wide mouth made him seem a little childish. But his voice was deep; much, much deeper than Emmett's, and that was saying something.
"Sorry about him," the boy said, turning to Emmett, "I'm Jacob."
"Emmett."
"So," Jacob nodded, "what are you really doing here?"
Again, Emmett shrugged. Jacob's dad stared intently at him, but Jacob just grinned. "Alright," he said after a few silent moments. "You don't have to tell me."
"He's in our land," was what Emmett swore he heard the man say. Their land? Seriously, there were some weirdoes around this place. Jacob, on the other hand, seemed cool enough and he extended his hand for Emmett to shake.
"Yeah, sorry," Jacob said, nearly blushing like he was completely embarrassed at his eerie father. "You know where you going?"
Emmett pondered for a moment, but shook his head. Jacob chuckled. "You don't talk much, do you?" Emmett shook his head again. "Well, there's a barbeque with me and a few of my friends down on the beach. Want to come? At least then you'll be fuelled enough for the time you want to set off and leave."
After another silence, Jacob grinned, "Don't worry. We don't bite."
…
It was growing lighter and lighter by the second, making the fact Edward was wearing a turtle-necked, black sweater extremely unusual. He didn't care, though. He was going for Stealth. And, Edward thought as he pulled down the hem of the sweater, it's also very slimming.
"Edward?"
He jumped so high at the voice that he dropped his skateboard and fell against the wall of his driveway. Then, he squeezed his eyes shut. "Mom, I can explain …"
"Why you're wearing something like you belong in Stealth?"
Edward's eyes snapped open. Of course it was her. It had to be. "Rosalie," he drawn out slowly, "you didn't see anything. Go home. Go home. Go home," he repeated in a quiet, magician like voice and waved his fingers around in front of Rosalie's face. She blinked tiredly at him.
"Right," she said, turning back to face the road. "So what are you really doing, Cullen?"
Edward sighed, rubbed his hands through his messy, blonde hair and then shrugged. "I … I was going to find Emmett," he said.
He didn't expect Rosalie to be so … okay with that. She just shrugged her shoulders. "You are? Good luck. I now understand the whole Stealth thing. Though it is making me kind of uncomfortable."
"Okay," Edward laughed and ignored her last comment, "so you're not going to … I don't know, offer to come?"
"Do you want me to come?"
"I'm not stupid, Rosalie. You may think I am but you don't know me–"
"–Just like I don't know Emmett–"
"Uh-huh. Except I've been going to school with you since kindergarten. Whatever, though," he stepped forward so he was next to Rosalie. "But I've seen the movies. The lead, pretty girl with a scary boyfriend always falls in love with the dropout. It's … it's like fate, or something. You just remind me of that girl."
Rosalie turned back to Edward. "Thanks, I guess," she smiled. "So, you really do want me to come?"
"Here's the thing," he replied, holding up his worn out skateboard that, even though Esme often begged, he refused to throw away. Vintage. "I need a ride."
"And where might you be going?"
There was a long, uncomfortable silence before Edward flung the skateboard over the wall of his driveway. Upon hearing it hit the floor, he nodded back to Rosalie. "We just need to search the area … and La Push … and try and find him. He can't have gone far, right? So are you in?"
Rosalie hesitated for a moment before flicking out her cigarette and nodding. "Right. Yeah. I'm in."
…
Emmett was already on his fourth burger at the barbeque. Turns out the food was better than he expected. The others, though, Jacob's friends, had eaten twice as much as Emmett, or even more. They never, ever got full, not once, and Jacob's friend, Sam, and his girlfriend just made more for the growing group of people – did Jacob know everybody in the area? Though, thinking of how small of a place Forks/La Push was, that wasn't impossible.
"I don't go to school anymore," Emmett told Jacob, following an earlier conversation, like he just didn't care about his education. Jacob raised his eyebrows shockingly.
"Wait, what?" he questioned. "Honestly? I get home schooled, myself, but you've not got anywhere to go after summer finishes?"
"Not really," Emmett said truthfully. He didn't. In fact, he didn't even have anywhere to go today. If only Sam offered him the plush couch they have in the front of their small, beach shack and he'd have a place to crash for the night…
It was already growing dark. They'd talked, drank, ate and watched sports all day. All of them – Embry, Sam, Paul, Emmett, Jacob, Billy and Quill. Most of the guys were mixed race – tanned, tall and had the appetite of heavily pregnant woman. They could eat anything, which explained all the weight they had in just their muscles.
Quill – a nickname for his real, 'embarrassing' Italian name – rest his feet up on Sam's table and took a swig out of his beer can. "So," he coughed, "where you from anyway?"
"Originally Tennessee," Emmett answered. "But I've lived in Boston with my mom for a while."
"And what brings you to La Push, boy?" Billy Black, Jacob's father, asked. Once you got to know him, which Emmett felt that he had even in such a small amount of time, he was pretty alright. He grinned like Jacob at Emmett.
"I was staying with a … a family friend," he lied, rubbing his temples anxiously. "Well, my mom's best friend. She's kind of like an auntie to me so … so I'm staying there. For now, anyway. But I kind of got into some trouble so I saved them the hassle of looking after me and left."
"Is that what happened to your hand?" Paul unlinked his hand from around a petite blonde's neck and pointed to Emmett's probably broken wrist. Emmett nodded. "Sick. So you punched a guy or?"
Emmett grinned, too, now. "Yeah," he said. "He was playing up and hurt my friend … my cousin … my mom's best friend's son."
Everybody nodded; each either taking small sips of their beer or taking a bite of a hotdog or piece of grilled chicken. Jacob turned up the volume on the sport's game they were watching. Lakers, or something; Emmett never really paid attention to game's like that. He preferred football or boxing. Though never wrestling; the tights didn't appeal to him.
"Hey," Emmett nudged Quill on the arm after a while. "Do you have a lighter?" Quill nodded, dug into his pocket and tossed him one. "Thanks, man," he whispered and trailed over to the front door, closing it quietly behind him.
If he hadn't have noticed the red, BMW convertible just a few metres away from him and it hadn't been a huge tip off, he definitely recognised the two people getting out of the car. He cursed under his breath as they looked around them.
"Emmett!"
Rosalie gasped happily. She was happy to see him and happy to know that he was safe, but now she just had to come up with a plan. She didn't trust that the always-late, never-organised Edward Cullen had come up with one, and she could modestly admit that she was quite quick with these things.
Emmett managed a smile and stepped off the porch of Sam and Emily's shack. He flicked out his cigarette then and placed his hands into his pockets coolly, as if he didn't intend on actually leaving and was just talking casually to neighbours. "What are you two doing here?" he asked. "How did you know where–"
"We didn't," Edward snapped out of his thoughts – now he was attempting to come up with a plan – and shrugged. "We've been looking for hours." Then, he frowned. "You've got a good hiding place. Who lives here? Or nobody? Did you just find an empty house and stay there for the day?"
"It's not a hiding place, Edward," Emmett sighed. "And just a few new friends."
Before Edward or Rosalie could question Emmett's new 'friends', the door of the shack flung open. "Emmett?" Out stepped Jacob, and horrible realisation hit Edward quickly. He frowned again, while Rosalie just stared at him agape. He looks like a wolf!
"Jacob Black?" Edward mouthed. Jacob seemed to be just as shocked to see Edward as Sam and Billy came out behind him and stood with him on the porch.
"Cullen?" Sam scowled. "What the hell are you– Wait, Emmett?"
An awkward, confused silence fell over the six of them. Rosalie stared fascinatingly, Edward glared, Billy, Sam and Jacob scowled and Emmett wished he hadn't thrown away his cigarette. The atmosphere was far too tense for him and his muscles ached, whether it was from the cold or what, he didn't know.
"So," Jacob pulled a face after a too-long pause, "you're staying with the Cullens?"
Emmett nodded before squinting. "Can somebody please explain what's going on?"
"I second that," Rosalie nodded. "I've never been more confused."
"Jacob Black …" Edward frowned childishly, preparing to tell a story, but then his face hardened and he set his glare on Jacob. "It all started in third grade."
"Before I moved to Forks after my dad's promotion, I went to the Government school in La Push. The public school." At this, Rosalie shuddered, but Edward continued in a tone as if he was telling a ghost story. "I had a crush on a certain brown-haired girl. Bella Swan."
Jacob smirked now while Rosalie just nodded, feeling far away and still confused. Bella went to public school? "She was bubbly, smart and had lots of friends. And just as I worked up the courage to talk to her, finally, a boy named Jacob with cool long hair and a biker's jacket moved and bam!"
Everybody jumped and Edward pouted. "She hated me. She wouldn't even look at me. In fact, she did once, to glare. She laughed in my direction. And he wasn't any better. He was popular, just like her, and they were the cutest eight year old couple in the whole world, while I was the annoying court jester who got picked on and laughed at."
Another silence fell over the group of them. This time, Edward scowled, Jacob and Sam grinned – Sam had met Bella a few times during the summers when she came to visit her father after moving to the other end of Forks – and Emmett and Rosalie exchanged a wary glance. Billy had rolled back in somewhere between the beginning of the story and the end.
Finally, Rosalie let out a giggle. "That was the lamest story I've ever heard in my life."
A comfortable type of quiet hit them. Emmett pulled out his pack of cigarettes, Rosalie leant against her car waiting for Edward who stared at the floor and rubbed a stone under his foot, defeated, while Jacob and Sam talked amongst themselves. Jacob turned to Emmett after a few minutes.
"I don't know why you run away," Jacob said. "Well, that's a lie. I'd run away if I had to live with the Cullens–" Edward and Rosalie rolled their eyes "–but you're welcome to stay here for the night to clear your head."
"That won't be necessary," Edward laughed.
"Yeah," Rosalie agreed. "Emmett's coming home with us."
"Actually," Emmett exhaled and retreated back up a few steps of the porch. "I think I want to stay here tonight."
"What?" Rosalie and Edward both scoffed in disbelief.
"You heard him, Blondie," Jacob smirked smugly. "He wants to stay here."
Emmett wanted to smile at Rosalie, but she glared at her shoes and refused to look up. He just looked at her sadly before turning to Edward who looked angry again. "I'm sorry, man. Thank you, though, for everything."
"Whatever," Edward said, unusually sour for his boyish voice. He turned back to Rosalie's car. "Can you take me home? I don't want to stay here anymore."
"Sure," Rosalie muttered. As she opened her car door, she turned back to Emmett. "Well, it was nice to meet you. Edward, I only wish your cousin from Boston had stayed longer."
Then, she got in the car and drove away.
…
Emmett's back ached and was red raw from staying on Sam's couch, but it wasn't hard for him to sit up when a full breakfast was on offer. Emily towered over him, holding a lot of the same motherly concepts as Esme Cullen, even though she was only a few years older than him. She handed him the full tray – it even had the flower and two drinks that Esme's had, too – and smiled.
"Thank you," he breathed, picking up a knife and fork and cutting half of his bacon. He placed it on the toast that Emily had buttered exactly how he liked, and then grinned at her. "For letting me stay and for the food."
"That's no problem," she said. "Honestly. You're a lot nicer and politer than a few other of Sam's friends."
"You don't like Quill or Paul?" Emmett asked. Other than his often smug look and attitude, Emmett couldn't think of any reason why anybody could hate Jacob. Emily laughed.
"Not them. You're not the first half-stranger to stay at our house," she explained. "And the others … well; they're not the nicest of people."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Emmett said politely, keeping up his Mr Nice Guy attitude. It was hard to hate any of them, really. The whole pack was entirely sweet and couldn't have had a bad bone in their body. Except maybe Seth Clearwater, who had had a wrestling fight with his tomboy older sister and ended up almost breaking her nose. He was nice to Emmett, though, which was good enough.
Emily smiled, dusted imaginary crumbs off her apron and patted her knees. "I best go get the pancakes on the go. I'm expecting the others soon and, well, you might not have known them long, but you've seen their eating habits." Emmett grinned. He had. "I hope you enjoy your food, Emmett."
"Thank you," he said, and then she disappeared into the kitchen.
Emmett ate, drank both his scorching coffee and orange juice (to calm his burning mouth) and then showered in the downstairs bathroom. Emily had left him a few clean towels, a clean toothbrush and a change of t-shirt and underwear – "don't worry; they're new, not Sam's."
He pondered whether he should leave yet after finding the house empty. While he was in the shower, he had heard the boys come in and presumably finish off the pancakes that Emily had made. He stayed in there for extra longer, avoiding going out until he heard everybody had cleared.
The house was a lot smaller than Carlisle and Esme's. It was built out of wood with lots of panels and pillars everywhere. It was cosy, with large stove fire, and had sheep skin rugs covering the hard, laminate-with-nails-poking-out floor. It was okay, though, for a young couple who seemed to be the parents of the group, having none themselves. Or at least none visible around except Billy, who was obviously adored by all of the boys, and seemingly the leader of the pack.
He peaked around a few of the rooms – without delving into any drawers, boxes or cupboards that were nothing to do with him – before settling down onto the couch in the front room. Emily and Sam must have both gone out with the boys, too, because when the door went, nobody came out from any rooms that he didn't look in (if their door was closed, he respected the privacy call).
"Who is it?" he called, stuffing his hands into his pockets and leaning against the wood door. He heard a timid girl respond and straightened immediately.
"It's me."
"Rosalie?" he opened the door and his eyebrows burrowed together. Why was she here?
"I just thought I'd come and see you," she said, placing her own hands in her pockets and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "I'm not supposed to be here but … well, we miss you. We all do. I know I didn't really have a chance to actually get to know you very well and … well, I don't live with Esme or Carlisle, but–"
Emmett felt the need to cut her off. "How are they?" he asked, genuinely concerned. He seemed to be getting in everybody's bad books lately, especially Edward's, who had gained a friend – his only one – and lost him all in the space of four days.
Rosalie, biting her lip, shrugged nervously. "I haven't spoken to them."
"Oh."
"Well," Rosalie smiled. "That's okay, right? We can go back and–"
Emmett shook his head. "I can't go back."
"But–"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Will you at least talk to me?" Rosalie asked after a few moments, looking up from under her long eyelashes, almost pleading with him. She had lied to Royce this morning, telling him that she had to go shopping with her mom and that she couldn't meet up with him. He wouldn't bother coming to La Push, he had no reason to. But she did, and she wasn't going to leave until she spoke to Emmett properly and at least tried to get him home. In reality, Rosalie didn't even want to talk to Royce. She'd rather spent the day with Emmett. He was different; not like all the guys she already knew. It was refreshing to have somebody like him around. She just had to get him to stay.
"I can't leave," Emmett said regretfully. "But … but maybe it's not a good idea anyway. What about Royce?" he asked as if reading her mind. She wasn't worried, though, and she just grinned up at him.
"Come on, please? Royce won't find out," she said positively, "I promise."
After pondering about it for a few long seconds, he nodded, knowing that Rosalie wouldn't leave him alone until he spoke to her. "Alright," he sighed. "Let's go."
…
"I still can't believe he just up and left."
"That's what boys like him do," Esme said, her voice lacking in the usual calm manner she held. She wasn't mad, no, definitely not. More upset, really, and worried. "He's a criminal. He has to just go before he gets in more trouble. But here, he got into trouble before leaving."
While his parents spoke, Edward remained quiet. He hadn't told them that he'd found Emmett, nor had he told them, in fact, that he'd actually gone looking. Carlisle sighed and took a sip of the whiskey he'd grown comfort in the past few days.
"He wasn't that bad," Carlisle said. He quickly continued after Esme's head snapped up to him angrily, "I mean … Royce was bad, too, and look what Emmett did; he stuck up for Edward."
On this cue, Edward nodded. Esme bit her lip. It was true. And she knew how bad Royce could get sometimes, but she never thought about it fully until now. Silently, she finished her salad before coughing into her napkin and taking a sip of water. Then, as if being controlled by a button, she stood up quickly.
"Right! We need to go."
Carlisle and Edward remained slow, sharing a wary glance. "Honey," Carlisle started, reaching out to hold her hand. Esme ignored him. "Go where?"
"We need to find Emmett," she said breathlessly. "We need to. We just need to make sure he's safe and well. Then … well, I don't know what we'll do then. But come on! He's still our responsibility and he's still a minor."
Edward hesitated while his parents grabbed their car keys and jackets. He slowly closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose before speaking in a rushed tone. "I know where is."
Carlisle and Esme stopped in their tracks while Edward smiled sheepishly. "You … you knew?" Esme asked, raising her eyebrows. "This whole time?"
Edward's shoulders dropped and he blinked at his mom somewhat sarcastically. "Mom, it's been a day."
"Still," Esme said, remaining strangely calm. She ran her hands through her hair while Carlisle shook his head. A lot had happened in their family in the past few days which nobody had expected. Still, maybe it was Carlisle's fault for offering to take care of Emmett …
"Right, get the keys, Carlisle," Esme said, making her way towards the door. "Now! Edward, you're grounded." Edward nodded. That seemed fair. "But first, you need to tell us exactly where he went. Then we're going to have to bring him home."
Despite everything, Edward couldn't help but smile. "Home? Like, his home?"
Esme rolled her eyes, patting Edward on the back to edge him towards the door. "We'll see."
"So that's a yes."
"We'll see I said!"
…
"Thank you," Rosalie leant her head on Emmett's shoulder and sighed happily. Today, for the most part, had been good. For her, anyway. "For talking to me today. It felt good to get that all off my chest."
"That's okay," Emmett said. It has been a good day, he thought. And even for him it felt good to talk to somebody.
First of all, Rosalie let go off the steam regarding Royce. She had been with him on and off for a few years, but he always screwed up – he'd already cheated on her twice. She vowed that she wouldn't go back to him, but she always did. Stupidly. He brought her flowers or something to make him forgive her, but Rosalie wasn't stupid. She never was.
She had to stay with him for the sake of her father's company. Ironically, Royce King's father, also named Royce, was practically royalty – at least in the world of banking and business. His bank sponsored – and helped pay for a lot of the time – Rosalie's father's company. He was an architect and started off nowhere, but with the help of Royce Sr and on-going loans, the Hales had made quite a name for themselves.
"I kind of don't want to go back," Rosalie admitted, straightening up in her seat and crossing her legs underneath her on the bench. It was already dark and the stars had come out. The night, for Forks, was extremely pretty, with no clouds blocking the shiny stars.
"Neither do I," Emmett responded quietly after a few minutes.
"I'm afraid you have no say in that."
Emmett jumped and whizzed around on the bench to face the voice. Rosalie almost fell onto the sand, but ended up standing up and hurrying over to the side while the three of them stepped forward.
Carlisle, Esme and Edward – the latter with his head down and staring at the sand as if it were extremely interesting. Rosalie blushed furiously and kicked a stone away with her shoe. She hadn't even thought this might happen; the same with Emmett, who was now standing up and burrowing his eyebrows at them.
Esme sighed, resisting the urge to pull Emmett into her hold. Instead, she stared at him. "What the hell were you thinking? We almost phoned the police! You worried us sick." She turned to Rosalie. "And you, Rose? Didn't you think of telling us?"
"It wasn't her fault," both Edward and Emmett said. It was completely weird for Edward, whom she had never spoken to fully before Emmett came, to be sticking up for her, but she smiled softly in Emmett's direction. He looked less than bothered about this surprise showing.
"Sorry, Rose," Esme's hand came to her mouth and she softened her glare. "Are you okay?" Rosalie nodded. "Good. Well, do you have a lift home; we can take you, with Emmett of course?"
"I–"
"I'm staying here," Emmett said, cutting off Rosalie from staying.
It was Carlisle who stepped forward this time. "Son, you're … well, come on … a bench on the beach?"
"I'll stay at Sam's," he said confidently. He'd actually not thought of Sam, Jacob, Quill, Embry or Paul yet. Even Emily, who was so kind to him that morning. He hadn't thought of any of them.
"Who?"
"Sam. He's a friend."
Esme crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. Edward wasn't half as difficult as Emmett. "And have you known Sam for long?"
"Sure."
Esme couldn't help but smile. "Come. Please? Just for a night, or however long you want … or need. Then we can try and get in touch with your mother and–"
"She's gone for good," Emmett informed her. He hadn't thought twice about his parents after being taken in by the Cullens. Though he hated to admit it (and probably sounded like a douche), Esme was more of a mother to him in three days than his own mother was in sixteen years.
He hesitated, none the less, thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong. But even Edward, who he was sure hated him, looked at him sincerely, silently asking him to say yes. "Okay. Thank you, but what about Jacob and Sam?"
"Yeah," Edward drawn, laughing slightly. "Forget about him."
Emmett laughed, and it felt like every weight had been lifted off his shoulders. At least nobody had mentioned the situation with Royce. Except Rosalie …
"Rosalie?" he asked quickly as Esme and Carlisle started towards their car. Edward stayed behind, waiting for Emmett, while Rosalie still looked at the floor and shuffled a little. Since when had the most popular girl in Forks been so shy? It baffled even Emmett, who took the impression that she was confident, while Edward just rolled his eyes.
Why is she still around? He thought (not admitting that he was madly and deeply in love with her best friend).
"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Go ahead. I'll see you tomorrow or something?"
Emmett nodded, opening the car door and stepping in. "Sure." Esme flashed a smile at Rosalie and waved once while Edward sulked in the back. Carlisle waited until Rosalie had got into her own car before he started the engine.
AN – wait a second where's Alice and Jasper? I promise more Alice/Bella/Jasper activity in the next chapter! Plus, I'm sorry if this chapter sucked which I expected truthfully but I really wanted to upload it and stop you guys from waiting. When you review (please *puppy dog eyes*) you are welcome to hate on this crappy ending haha. Thank you for reading!
