Disclaimer: I do not own Edward, Bella, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, Esme Jacob, Renesmee, Charlie, Renee, Angela, Phil, Ben, Mike, Seth, James, Victoria, Laurent, Leah, Sam, Emily, Paul, Jared, Quil, or Embry nor do I own Aro, Jane, Caius, Marcus, Felix, Demetri, Heidi or Gianna. And yes, I did that without looking at the books. Let me know if I forgot any. The only thing I own is the title of this story and the little icon on my laptop that says 'To Believe In Miracle's Outline'. Not very much, is it?
A/N: Well, after that very long disclaimer, I would like to thank all the reviewers. Always nice to hear peoples thoughts. :-). This chapter will be focusing on Rosalie and Bella's relationship. Ooh, fun. Enjoy!
Chapter 6
"Lately nothing I do
ever seems to please you.
And maybe turning my back
would be that much easier."
I Just Can't Live a Lie
Bella POV
Nervously, I strode up to the front door of Emmett's home.He opened the door and, standing in the doorway, yelled "LUCY I'M HOME!" he looked at me for a moment before adding, "AND I BROUGHT ETHEL!"
I laughed. "I can't believe you still remember that show!" Emmett and I used to watch I Love Lucy with our mom constantly. It was one of the only calm things that happened in my house, and the only show that we all agreed on.
Emmett ruffled my hair. "Of course I do, sis. That is one of things I missed the most." He smirked like he had a big secret and leaned down to whisper not-so-quietly into my ear. "Rose doesn't like that show."
"I don't do black and white shows," said a gorgeous voice. Emmett stood straight and I snickered.
"And I don't mind that at all!" he boomed, smiling and wrapping his big arms around Rosalie. She scoffed and shoved him off, stomping up the spiral staircase. I took that time to take in my surroundings.
Their house was beautiful, to say the least. It was mostly white but completely spotless. Mrs. Cullen (I had seen the name on the house mailbox when pulling in) must have worked very hard to keep the house clean.
"Rosie!" whined Emmett.
"Now Emmett," said a strong, affirmative voice, "why don't you forget about Rosalie for a moment and introduce us to this lovely young lady standing in the doorway?"
In front of me were too adults, who didn't look old enough to be parents. The man looked more like a super-model than a father with his nice blonde hair and straight posture. His eyes were a honey-like color that were very soft as they looked at me. This must have been Carlisle, the man Emmett had seemed so fond of.
His wife, Esme, was beautiful. Beauty must run in the family genes, I thought. She had wavy, caramel hair that framed her face delicately and came down to about her forearms. Her heart shape face was tender, as were her light brown eyes. She had a motherly aura about her but I could tell she could of also been an easy friend.
Emmett smiled and came back to my side. "Bella, this is Carlisle and Esme, my adopted parents. Carlisle, Esme, this is my sister, Bella."
Mrs. Cullen wasted no time in becoming my friend. "Bella," she said, welcoming me into an embrace, positively beaming. I returned the gesture. As she pulled out of our hug she grinned. "It is so lovely to meet you."
"Thank you, Mrs. Cullen. It's a pleasure to meet you, too. You have a gorgeous home," I complimented. She laughed lightly.
"Why, thank you. Oh and please, dear, call me Esme, I insist." I nodded, smiling a little.
"It's nice to meet you too, Bella," said her husband, coming up and putting an arm around her shoulder. "I'm Carlisle." He looked at Emmett, eyeing me slightly. "Honestly Emmett, why have you been hiding this charming girl from us for so long? You practically have deprived us another daughter!"
I blushed. "Nice to meet you," I mumbled. Carlisle and Esme laughed, as did Emmett.
"Bella," called a voice from behind Carlisle. I stepped over some to see who it was. It was Rosalie. Emmett's eyes perked up. She ignored him. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked.
"Sure," I responded, walking towards her and following her into another room. I assumed it was the living room, for there was flat screen TV and several couches/chairs. Rosalie took a seat on the couch and then patted the spot next to her, welcoming me to sit there. I did as she instructed.
"I know we didn't exactly start off on the best of terms," she began, "but I feel that there is something I need to ask you. It's about Emmett." Puzzled, I nodded for her to continue. "I want to know why he left." I bit my lip, looking down at my lap. I knew why, it was just hard to explaining. It was like explaining to a small child that their pet had just died. It was never easily coped with. "He won't tell me," she continued, "but I feel like I need to know. I'm afraid he's hiding something."
I nodded, telling her silently that I would explain. I just needed a moment to think. "Things weren't... easy at home back then," I started, my eyebrows scrunching together. "Our parents were arguing a lot over nonsense. The most fought battle, however, was where Emmett was going to college. My dad wanted him to become a policeman like himself but my mom wanted Emmett to help reach his dream; an auto repair shop. God only knows we needed one in Forks.
"Well, with all the fighting Emmett was getting stressed. He was starting to do bad in school because our parents were always fighting and he couldn't stay in a relationship because of them. I know he probably would have left sooner if it weren't for me." I sighed, thinking about all the problem I'd created at home. "That was another problem; me. With one extra person in the house it was getting hard to pay for everything. My mom was going from job to job and the station didn't pay my dad that much. We had one too many in the house.
"So one day, Emmett just packed up his bags and left. He'd had enough of the bickering and people always trying to decide things for him. He wanted a real education, he wanted to go out and see places without having to worry about family. He seemed to think that we would cope, and we also would have one less person to feed. Plus, without him around they wouldn't have to buy so much food. To him, it was a win-win situation."
"But did you cope?" asked Rosalie.
I hesitated. "Never completely. We adjusted, we lived on. The prices of things started to go down, but we were worried. My dad tried tracking him down but the only thing they found was his car in a gas station miles away from Forks." Rosalie smirked at that. "It took me the longest. I made some good friends that kept my mind off him, but I still had to go home and face it at the end of each day. It took me years to stop crying, and even after that I still thought about him everyday." I sighed again, sinking back into the couch and closing my eyes to block out the tears. "It's hard to imagine a life without Emmett once you know him. It's like a child not having a teddy bear anymore."
"I don't know how you did it," said Rosalie, looking at me sympathetically. "But one more question."
"Yes?"
"How could you forgive him so easily?" The question caught me off guard, but I though carefully before answering.
"I guess I had lived without a friend that I could trust for so long that I really didn't give it a second thought. Emmett was my first best friend and I was just so desperate to know what it's like to have a brother like him again I didn't hesitate. It just felt right to trust him at that moment."
She giggled. "Yes, well, Emmett certainly does keep interesting company." She sighed. "And to think, you finally found him and I'm stealing him away from you."
"I don't see it as stealing," I assured. "You love him, he loves you. As long as he's happy, I'm happy. That's partially why I had such a hard time letting go. I was afraid that he wasn't happy wherever he was." I smiled at her. "I'm glad to know that he was."
"Thank you, Bella." Rosalie grinned at me. It was such a beautiful smile, mine paled in comparison. "I hope that one day you will think of me as a sister."
I waved it off with my hand. "Don't worry about it," I comforted, standing up from the couch. "I already do."
