I do not own Twilight.

I want to thank melstewarthm for her review, which gave me the idea for the cookie jar comment in this chapter.

Your reviews are a great motivation…Thank you!

This was the first time that I had been out of my house since I had been playing sick. Edward practically begged to pick me up so that I could hang out at his house with everyone for a few hours. I wanted to keep up with my scheme that I was supposed to be just getting better, so I just put on my navy blue fleece pants and matching zip up hoodie, with my slim fit Bob Marley shirt on underneath. I threw my hair up into a quick ponytail and applied some chapstick to my lips. Edward knocked on the front door just as I finished putting on my sneakers.

I heard Charlie, I mean, my dad open the door and greet Edward. As I went to join them I heard my dad telling Edward to bring me back in a couple of hours because he wanted me to get all the way well.

As I got to Edwards side he grabbed my hand and laced his fingers with mine. "No problem, Chief Swan. Thanks for letting her get out of the house for a bit. We have all missed her these past few days."

"Okay kids, you drive safely."

"See you later dad." I told my dad and then leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

Once we were in the car Edward leaned over and kissed me very gently. "I missed you."

He looked into my eyes and my head immediately began to swim. This was so much stronger then the dazzling I had felt when we first met. The next thing that I knew Edward was snapping his fingers in front of my face and my head was resting on the back of the car seat.

"What happened?" I asked dazed looking at the roof of the car.

"I don't know." He answered forlornly. "I looked at you and your eyes rolled up into the back of your head and you slumped back into the seat."

I looked over at him and he looked so sad, he was almost pouting. The minute I looked back into his eyes I felt queasy again but less strongly than before.

"It is something you are doing Edward. It feels so strange when I look into your eyes. I just felt it again, just less strongly and this happened last Sunday when you got back from camping. Are you able to do something to humans other than dazzling, cause this feels so much stronger then that?"

"Well some vampires are able to hypnotize their victims or slaves and that usually results in them having some sort of power over them. The extent of it depends on the two involved, because everyone is different."

"Are you trying to do that to me?"

Edward sucked in a breath in shock, "How can you even ask that Bella? I love you."

"I'm sorry, it's just so weird that this is happening." I paused looking down in my lap and then I asked him in a whisper, "Do you have that power? Have you been able to control someone in that manner before?"

I knew the answer before he said anything and he looked away from me. "Yes, I have the power to do that, but I haven't used it on anyone since I hunted humans. It is a very handy tool for the monster that preys on the human population."

I nodded my head, still weary of looking into his eyes. I glance up and saw that he was looking out of the windshield and he seemed to be ashamed of what he was telling me. Even though I knew this line of questioning was hard for him I needed to know one more thing. "This power that you have to overpower people, in all the times that you have used it…did you ever come across someone who was immune to it?"

He hesitated and looked at me carefully looking slightly below my eyes. "No," he whispered softly and started the car.

We drove in silence most of the way there, Edward broke it once when he told me, "I'll talk to Carlisle about this tonight after I take you home."

I just nodded and the silence ensued.

When we got to the Cullen's house everyone was in the family room except Emmett, Rosalie and Carlisle. I just assumed that Carlisle was working at the hospital since it was his home away from home.

Edward and I sat on the pristine white couch, which always made me nervous because I knew that I would be the one that ended up staining it. We sat next to Alice and she hugged me and told me that she was glad that I was feeling better. Jasper was sitting in the video game lounge chair playing Bad Company on PS3.

Esme was sitting on the love seat that was perpendicular to the large sofa and she smiled softly at me. "It is so nice to see you Bella, I was getting a little worried. How are you feeling?"

I blushed at her concern and with guilt since I haven't been sick at all. "I feel a lot better, but I'm still tired. I'm just glad that the fevers are gone."

"Charlie wants her back in a couple of hours, she just needed to get out of the house." Edward said to Esme.

Esme smiled and patted my hand, "That is probably a good idea, we don't you to relapse before your fully well."

"Yeah," Alice chirped in, "I don't think I could handle another week of Edward moping around here."

I looked at Edward and he smiled, rolled his eyes and then playfully swatted Alice on the back of the head.

Alice giggled, "What Edward? You know it is true…you lovelorn fool."

"Hey, put the shoes on the other foot sister." Edward told her this time yanking lightly on her spiked hair.

I was laughing at the sibling rivalry when all of the sudden we heard Rosalie shout out in what sounded like pain at first. But then it was followed be little quieter moans and then silence. Nobody looked shocked but me, but they looked embarrassed. As the truth of the scream dawned on me I felt the heat rise up my neck and face. Then of course came the anger, grief, sadness, jealousy and guilt once again.

As I nodded at Esme as she apologized for Rosalie and Emmett's rude behavior I found myself sticking up for them. "It's alright Esme, they probably don't even know that I am here."

It got quiet after that, a few moments later Rosalie came downstairs and she looked very irate. She passed through the room without a word and then we heard her car roar to life outside.

As the awkward silence ensued I berated myself for being upset at something that I had no right to be upset over. I mean it isn't like Emmett made any promise to me other than the fact that he planned to have me again, but even that wasn't a promise. He is with Rosalie and I am with Edward. What we have done is wrong and deceiving.

So if it is wrong, then why does it feel so right when we are together?

As I was pondering this question in my mind I looked up and I saw him standing at the bottom of the stairs. I hadn't heard him come down because of his vampire grace but once I saw him I felt my heart clench and I had to force my eyes not to water with the tears that so desperately wanted to come forth. When he met my eyes I saw his smile fade into a slight grimace like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. But, I think I also saw pain in his expression.

Alice asked Emmett a question interrupting my thoughts, "Hey king stud, how you doing?"

When I heard her, I turned to look at her and saw her grinning from ear to ear wiggling her eyebrows. She was teasing him and I am about to be sick.

I look back at Emmett trying to keep my expression neutral and my breathing even. I could hear and feel Edward chuckling next to me in response to Alice's question.

Emmett tore his gaze from mine and looked at Alice, "Shut up Alice."

"What's the matter Emmett, you can dish out the teasing but you can't take it yourself." Alice continued with the teasing.

Emmett ignored her and went to join Jasper on the video lounger, "I want in on the next round."

Jasper just nodded in response.

Amazingly no one seemed to notice the brief emotional display between Emmett and I. I was concentrating very hard at keeping my emotions in control. Glancing up at the clock that was above the T.V. I saw that only 20 minutes had gone by. All I wanted to do was go home, crawl into a ball on my bed and cry.

"Emmett?" Edward said as he pulled my stiff form to him. I immediately tried to relax my body and settled myself against him.

"What?" Emmett responded in a wary tone.

"Is Rosalie alright? She seemed upset." Edward asked carefully.

Alice busted up in laughter, "Yeah Emmett, she seemed very…unsatisfied."

Emmett hissed out between his teeth answering both of them at the same time, "You know how Rosalie is when the world isn't revolving around her…and Alice, mind your own damn business."

Edward sat up so that he could look at Alice. We were all surprised at Emmett's behavior, but at least I knew where some of it might be stemming from, but Edward and Alice were bordering on shock. It was definitely out of character for Emmett to be so irritated and let it show. Normally he remained the upbeat one no matter what type of drama was around us.

I could tell that Edward and Alice were having one of their silent conversations so I leaned back against the couch. I just alternated my eyes between them, it was always entertaining to watch them interact this way.

Suddenly Alice gasped and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Seconds later Edward saw what Alice had seen in her mind. I physically tensed as I watched Edwards lips tensely tighten into a grim thin line and then they both looked at Emmett.

I shivered which gained Edward's attention, "Bella are you feeling okay? Your shivering and you look very pale."

I shook my head, "I'm getting cold and tired."

"I'm going to take you home so you can get some sleep. Esme was right, we shouldn't overdue it…I definitely don't want you to relapse." He gently brushed my hair out of my face.

He looked at Alice to direct his next question to her, "Will you go with us?"

She nodded her head and went to talk to jasper.

After I said my goodbyes to everyone I saw Alice put her hand on Emmett's shoulder and say, "Sorry Emmett."

His only response was to bring his hand up and pat her hand.

When we got to the car I climbed into the back.

"What are you doing Bella?" Edward asked me.

"Getting in the back."

He sighed in exasperation at my short and obvious answer, "Yes, but why?"

"Well, I want to lay down and I know that you and Alice want to talk about Emmett and her vision."

"You really don't miss anything, do you?"

He smiled at me lovingly as I shrugged and then I lay down. I closed my eyes as I prepared myself for what I was about to hear.

Once we reached the highway Edward asked Alice, "Are you sure?"

She nodded her head and I could see the side of her face. She looked so sad so I reached my hand out and rubbed her arm briefly. She looked back at me and gave me a strained smile.

"What are we going to do?"

Alice stared straight ahead as she answered, "I don't think that there is anything we can do. I can't believe I haven't seen this before."

I of course new why she hadn't seen any visions of Emmett before tonight. Emmett was blocking her energy with his mind. So any sight she had gotten had to be from Rosalie's future.

"Could you tell when the vision was taking place?"

"No," Alice answered.

I finally got fed up with their cryptic conversation, "Could someone please explain what you are talking about?"

Alice sighed, "I saw Rosalie telling the family that she was done with Emmett…that she can't pretend to be in love with him anymore and that she was going to go on a long vacation alone. I didn't see Emmett in the vision so we are worried that that might mean he is going to leave."

Once again I knew that even if Emmett was supposed to be there in that vision she wouldn't have seen him. But her words still sliced through me down to my bones, but I just shook my head. Conflicting emotions were raging through me but the most dominant one was the fear of Emmett leaving me.

"Thanks for explaining." I closed my eyes and resumed to listening. They talked some more about all the different possibilities of trying to keep them together and they hoped that Emmett felt enough like a part of the family to stay even if a break-up was inevitable. They discussed how much it would hurt Esme if anyone left permanently.

When we got to my house Edward helped me out of the car and walked me up to the door. He kissed me softly and traced my collarbone with his fingers. I shivered; he looked at me and kissed me again. I didn't attack him like I normally would when he kissed me this way, but then my mind wandered to thoughts of what Emmett could have been doing to Rosalie to make her scream that way and I lost it. The fury boiled to the surface and I attacked Edward on my front porch. I didn't care that Alice was in the car or that my dad was just twenty feet inside of the house. My kiss was urgent and demanding as I forced my tongue into his mouth. Edward moaned, but I could feel him tensing up, which meant that he would be pushing me away at any moment. So I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist and ground my pelvis into him. He stumbled back and he grabbed me to keep me from falling. When he regained his balance I saw him realize that his hands were gripping my backside. He kneaded me, which shocked me and the look in his eyes was pure hunger. This time when I pushed my hips into him I could feel his arousal for me.

I attacked his mouth again and he eagerly responded. But then the car horn sounded and Edward pushed away. Obviously Alice wasn't enjoying the show. He stared at me and I wished that I could hear what he was thinking. He unwound my legs from around him and set me onto my feet.

"Bella I…" He started to say.

I interrupted him, "It's okay. I was pushing your boundaries again, I should know better."

"Don't be upset, you know I want you." He was holding onto my shoulders staring intently into my eyes.

I quickly looked away as the dizziness found me and I closed my eyes tightly. I couldn't help but think that this time he had intended to look at me that way. I wobbled and he caught me.

I was in his arms again, "I need to go to bed. Are you coming back tonight?"

"I'm not sure, I know that Alice wants to talk more about her vision." He looked torn as he tried to decide what to do.

"Don't worry about it, Alice needs you. I'm still sick anyway."

"I'll come over in the morning?"

"I'll see you then." I pecked him chastely on the lips and went inside of the house.