Chapter One

-

-

Emmett broke it, "You know my father?"

Everyone gasped. Bella's was the loudest, as venom-tears welled in her eyes. It's been 40 years since she was changed, and by the looks of Emmett, Henry was around 22 when Emmett was born; which made Bella's new love to be 18, just like her. Emmett was staring at Bella expectantly, as if waiting for her to answer her. But all Bella could do was stare at Emmett's ruby red eyes. They sparkled in the sunlight, as his skin sparkled in the sun's bright shine. She couldn't take her eyes off his, and his bore into her eyes like his immortal life depended on it.

Bella forgot the question as soon as he asked it. She couldn't recall what he had asked, even though she had responded to it like everyone else. She had gasped, so has the other three vampires in the room. They were all extremely surprised, yet confused at the same time. They didn't know how to answer his question, and Emmett didn't expect one. But, he just couldn't let his eyes leave hers. It was as if he was pulled to her. He was scared to death, because he didn't know what had happened, but he couldn't bring himself to freak out.

"What happened?" he asked again. No one answered. Carlisle, Esme and Edward left the room. Bella hesitantly walked over to him and sat down next to him. She—hesitantly always hesitantly—reached for his hand. He took hers firmly in his own, and when she cringed, he let go. He looked hurt, like she had burned him. Bella, noticing the look on his face, took his hand again, and smiled, showing him her pearly white teeth. He returned the smile, his own white teeth showing, and sparkling in the sunlight.

"Miss..?"

"Bella. Call me Bella." Emmett smiled. He loved the sound of the name. He also knew that Bella meant Beautiful to in Italian. He was taking in her form, her golden eyes, her flawless pearly white skin. Looking at her, he felt like he belonged. He felt as if his world was complete. The fact that he had just gone through a long time burning, the fact that he was mauled by a bear meant nothing to him. All that mattered was the beautiful, perfect girl before him.

As Emmett though back to what had happened before the incident with the bear, he couldn't help but feel sad. A lot had happened to him. He could remember his father, Henry. He could remember him coming home in a drunken state. Emmett could remember the screaming, and the arguing. He could remember his younger sister, Yvonne, running into his room, tears rolling down her cheeks. He had put aside his studying for his History exam to help her.

With Emmett being the older brother to Yvonne, he had to be there for her. His parents spent all their time arguing. Emmett was the one who cooked for Yvonne; he was the one who helped her with her school work; Emmett was the one who threatened her bullies. Emmett was the one who raised her. Yvonne always went to Emmett before her parents. Yvonne went to Emmett when she hit puberty. And, although it was awkward for him, he helped her through it all. He was there for her; through her first crush, her first boyfriend… everything.

He was there for her for everything until one night. His father had come home drunk, and his parents started to argue. Emmett tried to call his grandmother, Vera, but she wouldn't answer. Emmett had quietly walked into his sister's room, and she was crying, curled up in a ball in the corner of her room. Emmett had sat next to her, and held her close as she cried into his chest.

It wasn't long after that their father had stumbled upstairs and opened the door to Yvonne's room. He was absolutely out of it. He had no idea what he was doing. He had pulled Emmett off the floor, and pushed him against the wall. He beat him, over and over, yelling that it was his fault that he suffers at work; that it was his fault his wife hated him. The drunken man beat Emmett so badly that night, that it was the first time Yvonne had helped Emmett through anything.

The beatings continued. Henry had said once that if helped him blow off steam. Yvonne had helped Emmett a lot, and Henry never, ever, touched Yvonne…until one night when Emmett couldn't make it home. When he did, Yvonne was on the floor of her bedroom, and she wasn't breathing; her heart wasn't beating; and she wasn't moving. Emmett had immediately broke down crying. He hated himself for not being there when she needed him; he hated the fact that Yvonne had to go through the pain, and suffering of being beaten.

So, he had immediately bough a tent and enough food to last him a week. He had set up camp in the forest, and just laid on his little makeshift bed, and stared up at the ceiling of the tent. He was beating himself up. He could never forgive himself. He would never forgive himself. He wished he could've been there to take that beating… he wished it was him that was on the ground in his room, not breathing, not moving… heart not beating.

He had wandered out of the tent on day three in the forest. He wandered around aimlessly. He punched a few trees, screamed as loud as he could. He cried, he huddled under trees; he even killed a few animals. He came across a small clearing. It was beautiful... wild flowers every where. The grass was pure green, the birds were chirping, the sun shining. He loved it. He huddled under a huge birch tree, and stared at a white fluffy bunny. It hopped over to him, and hopped into his lap.

It's happiness reminds me of Yvonne… he thought, and the thought of his sister angered him. He picked up the fluffy bunny and whipped it across the clearing. It hit a tree, and he heard its skull crash against a tree. He could smell the blood of the rabbit, and he could also hear the heavy footsteps of some wild animal running towards him. At the moment, he couldn't care less.

The last thing he remembered before searing pain was thinking, I love you, Yvonne. And everything went black. He remembered opening his eyes once, and looking into a pair of golden ones. He remembered he was on a bed, in a room somewhere. He remembered being stabbed with a needle, and he could remember someone whispering that they were going to save him. Then, it was searing pain. He thought he was dying. Then, he opened his eyes after an extremely long time burning, and into the same golden eyes as earlier.

"Bella…" Emmett mumbled. He took her hand, and ran his thumb over her knuckles. She smiled at him, and squeezed his hand. "Bella…" he whispered again. She smiled wider at him, and crossed her legs on the bed. "Bella… Bella… Bella…" he continued repeating, making her want to blush. But, of course, since she had no blood in her body, she couldn't.

"Bella…" Emmett whispered. "What happened to me?" he asked her softly. She looked up at him, and she wished, at that moment, that she could cry. She could see the pain etched onto his face. She could see the sorrow in his eyes… she could see the heavy layer of guilt in his heart. And she wanted to take it away. She wanted to take away the guilt, the hurt, the sorrow… she wanted to replace it with love, joy and happiness.

"Emmett… I'm going to tell you everything. But first you have to hunt." Bella had explained what it was as they walked at a fast human pace into the forest. Bella took his hand, and they walked farther in, and before long, they were running at top speed. They ran hand in hand, until Bella pulled on his, making him stop with her. She turned to him, and placed her hands on his broad shoulders.

"Now… wait for a breeze… now what do you smell?" She asked as a small gust of wind blew towards them. Emmett tensed for a second, before taking in a deep breath.

"Mmmm…" he moaned.

Bella giggled. "Now let your instincts guide you." she took his hand before he sped away, and she followed him through the forest, through the thick bushes, over the small creek in the middle of a clearing, and past a few caves. Eventually, they made it to another clearing, clad with deer. "Let them guide you." she whispered in his ear. She let go of his hand, and he crouched. He pounced on one, and snapped it's neck. He deer was finished before he was.

Bella took a few for herself, too, watching Emmett carefully. She wanted to make sure that he'd do fine. He wanted to make sure that he would be able to control himself. She watched as he took down deer after deer, and was totally surprised when he stopped suddenly. He turned to the trees, and a grizzly trotted in. Bella's eyes widened as she realized Emmett was about to take it down. She was going to stop him, but he was… making it irritated.

She watched as the bear stood on his hind legs and took swipes at him. Bella watched in horror as Emmett pounced on it. He was laughing freely as he rode the bear around the clearing. Eventually, after Emmett got bored with annoying the large animal, he sunk his teeth into it's neck, and started to drain it.

He pulled back earlier than she expected, and he looked over. "Want some?" he asked softly. She flashed by his side, and she smiled. She sunk her teeth into the holes Emmett made, and finished off the bear. Emmett helped her bury the carcass, and they walked slowly back to the house. But, Emmett couldn't help but pout.

He was covered in blood.

"Aw, Emmett, that's fine. It's normal for you to be covered in blood your first time. It's okay. It gets better." he nodded, and took her hand. He just loved the feeling of her skin against his, and he just couldn't leave her alone. He figured that she must be getting annoyed with his constant presence, but he just couldn't leave her be.

They slowly walked towards the house. They were quiet, but Bella knew that the rest of the family heard them. They walked in, and the three people in the living room smiled at them. Bella and Emmett went upstairs, and into Bella's room. She sat on the bed, and when she noticed he looked a little uncomfortable, she smiled, and patted the spot next to her. He sat down, and she took his hand.

"You can ask away now Emmett." she told him quietly.

"Okay. Can we start with where I am?"

"Emmett, you are at, what I hope will be, your new home." Bella told him softly, stroking his hand.

Emmett nodded. "How did I get here?"

"I brought you here." She answered, slightly afraid that he'd hate her for it.

"How?"

"I found you dying in a small clearing. I panicked, and I just… I just couldn't let you die. I don't know why," she lied, "but I just had to save you." She took a deep breath. "I'm extremely drawn to you." She whispered.

"Why?"

So, Bella told him her story. She told him about his grandmother, she told him about what happened with Royce. She explained to him why she felt so strongly to him, apologizing for lying to him. She told him that she had fell in love with him quickly, and that she was scared because she was 18, technically 58 years old, and she's never been in love. She explained to him that he doesn't have to reciprocate her feelings, that she was okay with that.

"No," Emmett said softly, holding her hand a little tighter. As of now, they've been in the room for hours. "I like you too, Bella. But…but I don't love you yet. I mean… I mean I do… but I'm not completely in love with you yet. But I promise… I promise I will be… soon… I will… I'll love you…" Bella cut off his little rant with a few giggles. She thought it was adorable. She squeezed his hand, letting him know it was alright.

"Bella…" she looked up at him, "what am I?" he asked softly.

Bella took in a deep breath. This was the moment she dreaded. She knew that when she told him, he'd go running in the opposite direction of her. She figured that if he found out he was a vampire, he'd want to go have his own life… although she knew that he liked her, she was still afraid. What if he changes his mind? She thought.

"Bella?"

"Emmett… we're vampires." She said quietly. His eyes widened in surprise. "You spent three days burning."

"Vampire…" he repeated. She nodded. "Does that mean we burn in the sun?" he asked, causing Bella to let out a little giggle. She squeezed his hand again.

"No Emmett. We're not like those Hollywood vampires. We're completely different. We don't drink human blood… well some do. We drink animal blood. Our eyes are gold. Well, yours are red right now, but that's just the blood left in your body. Eventually you'll lose the red color and have a beautiful golden one… unless you want to drink from humans…" She whispered. Emmett shook his head. "We don't burn from sunlight. Instead, and this may sound girly but… we sparkle. It looks as if we have millions of diamonds embedded onto our skin… it's beautiful." She whispered.

"We can run at amazing speeds. As you have witnessed today…" she continued to tell him everything about being a vampire, including the fact that he won't be able to stay in town for much longer. "Eventually, someone's going to see that your missing. We cannot stay here." She told him softly. He nodded sadly. "Is there anything you want me to get from your house? Anything you absolutely cant leave behind?" Bella asked soothingly. He sighed.

"A picture of my sister…" he said quietly. Bella put her hand on his cheek.

"I'll be back by sundown."

And she was gone.

Emmett sighed, and walked downstairs. He smiled shyly at them, and Carlisle motioned for him to sit before them. Emmett carefully sat in the armchair, and looked over the people before him. He slightly intimidated. To him, they all looked so beautiful. I wonder what I look like… he thought. Edwards head snapped up.

"You haven't seen yourself yet?" he asked. Emmett shook his head, slightly confused. "Oh, and I can read minds. It's a gift I received when I was changed." Emmett nodded, and noticed the brunette woman get up. A minute later, she was back with a mirror. She placed it in front of him, and he was shocked.

"This is me?" he asked, looking at the beautiful man in the mirror. He had pearly white skin. He looked perfect. His dark brown hair had turned black; his normally crooked nose was straight. His normally fuller top lip was evened out, making it the same as the bottom. But the most eye catching feature was his ruby red eyes.

"Yes, son." Esme said. Emmett's dead heart melted. He had called her son.

"Of course she did. Your part of the family now." Edward said. Emmett nodded.

They sat around for a few hours, and Emmett was still a little uncomfortable. He wanted to see Bella. He wanted to hold her hand, feel her skin against his. He wanted to listen to her beautiful laugh. He wished he could look into her amazingly gorgeous golden eyes. He wished he could look at her beautiful, perfect face.

When he heard Bella running towards the house, he felt giddy. When she walked in, it took everything in him not to jump on her. She walked over to him, and placed a photo album in his lap. He looked at it confused. He didn't remember having one. "I searched your house for every photo of your sister, and I put it in here." She said softly. He opened it, and he felt like crying. The first picture was a picture of him and her when Emmett was 15. He looked through it, and when he finished, venom-tears were in his eyes, and he looked up at Bella.

"Thank you… it's perfect." She smiled at him, and he took her hand. He liked the idea of having a loving family… maybe he could get used to this. He could love having a father and mother. A brother… and possibly a new girlfriend.

He looked over at Bella, and watched as she looked through the photo album. "She was beautiful…" She murmured, running her hand over a picture of Emmett, his sister and his mother. "Where's Henry?" she asked.

"He became a drunk." Emmett said softly. Bella gasped, and turned to Emmett, a sad expression on her face. She put her arm around his waist, and pulled herself to him, giving him a hug. She ran her hand up and down his arm.

"I'm really sorry." She said softly. Emmett smiled.

"It's okay." She looked up at him, and he smiled. He leaned down slowly, his face inches away from hers. He felt her breath on his face, and Bella felt her dead heart flutter. She inhaled, and inched closer. They paused when someone cleared their throat.

"Bella… Emmett… we need to talk about some stuff." Carlisle said. They sighed, and nodded. They righted themselves, but Emmett pulled Bella onto his lap. She smiled, and laid her head on his shoulder, and noticed Edwards pained face. She smiled apologetically. He nodded.

"What do we need to talk about?"

"We have to move."


Okay. I know it was a long wait, but my teachers are out to get me! They piled me up with homework to my neck.

REVIEW!