A/N: I'm still a bit suffering from a writer's block, don't kill me ;-). I will upload the rest of the chapter as soon as possible.

I still don't own Twilight *sob*. And I still don't like beer.

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Recently in After Dark: Bella's POV.

My cheeks burned and I felt tears in the corner of my eyes. Both didn't impress them."Don't. Touch. Her", an angry voice warned. It wasn't loud, but it was threatening as hell. I froze.

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Chapter 7 – (Lost and Found) – Emmett's POV

I felt like a child on Christmas. Excited. I had found Bella. Or she had found me, even if she didn't know. I felt better than I had in a long time. The world wasn't that black anymore.

It was easy to follow her scent and I chided myself how I could have missed it before. When I stopped at her building, I swallowed hard. What the fuck? People were actually living in here? It looked ready to fall apart any second. And this was not a safe place. It seemed she lived in the crappiest neighbourhood this city had to offer. How could it be that my baby sister had to live like this while our family had big, nice, expensive mansions all over the world?

The sight of Big, Rusty Red at the end of the street made me smile. She still had her old car. I knew this could mean she couldn't afford another car. It made me angry she was still driving this dangerous vehicle. It made me ashamed she had to drive this piece of junk while I had several new and shiny cars in my garage. Cars with all necessary extras. Safe cars. But it also made me want to believe that maybe Bella hadn't changed that much. That maybe she just hold on to this car because she loved it. That she wanted to have something that reminded her of home and old times. Old times that included me. Me, Edward and my family.

I reached the second floor and frowned. I could hear her trough the door. I could hear her strangled sobs, her erratic heartbeat. She was crying. Why was she fucking crying? Why was my baby sister so unhappy? And why was she laughing at the same time?

I kneeled down and touched the door, as if I could touch her, feel her, comfort her. If only Jasper was here… he could make her feel better. If only Alice was here… she would know what to do. And if Edward was here…

I was useless. I couldn't do anything besides trying to hold myself from yanking this door open and hugging her senseless, rubbing her back and soothing her. I had promised him.

I hated myself for following his orders as if I was his servant. But I couldn't deny his wish. He was a fucking stupid prick with no sensibility for the real important issues in life. But he was my brother, after all. He had never asked me for anything else.

*****

The security guy wasn't really happy about me showing up again. He looked tired and ready to go home. And my appearance didn't make him feel comfortable. I mean, he knew he wouldn't stand a fucking chance against me.

"Where closed", he stated. "But there is a grocery store at the end of the street which is open for 24 hours", he pointed.

"I'm not here for a drink nor looking for any kind of trouble", I convinced him with the most human smile I could manage in my current state of anger and worry. I showed him my napkin with the phone number on it. "I'm here to see a beautiful young lady."

"That Rebecca", he sighed and stepped aside from the entrance. "She's still cleaning up. Just look for her near the bar."

Guess I wasn't the only guy she gave her phone number to. Not that I had expected I was. "Thanks man", I grinned at him, hurrying inside.

The place looked like a mess. There were still dozens of half-empty pitchers and overflowing ashtrays standing on the tables, chairs were lying on the dance floor, and the room reeked of tobacco, sweat and vomit. Why would Bella work in a place like this? I could picture her perfectly in a nice Italian restaurant, a book store or a library, but not here. But I had seen it with my very own fucking perfect eyes. She DID work here.

Rebecca was very pleased to see me.

"Hey, stranger", she winked, polishing glasses behind the counter.

"Hey there", I smiled, careful not to show too much teeth while approaching her and leaning onto the counter.

"Missed me?"

"Hm…" I trailed off, watching a red-headed waitress wiping tables and putting dirty glasses on a tray. Great, Emmett. Way to go to fish for information about your sister from this girl who's definitely hitting on you. But I could do this, right? I was a fucking vampire. I just had to dazzle her a bit.

"I take it you didn't come back for me, then?" she smiled. That was unexpected. She didn't even seem sad or disappointed. You're definitely loosing your touch, boy.

"To be honest, no", I confessed.

"So how can I help you?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk about Bella."

"Bella", she mused. The red-headed waitress came over and handed the tray over to Rebecca.

"This petite brunette who was working here tonight. She was wearing-"

"I know who Bella is", she interrupted me, grabbing a few dirty glasses from the tray and drowning them in the sink. "I'm quite surprised you call her Bella."

"Well, that's her name?" I furrowed my brows. What the fuck is going on?

"Actually, her name is Isabella. And people call her Izzie, Isa, Bambi or B. But never Bella. She hates it. No, she absolutely loathes it."

She must have seen my confused expression, as she explained further: "I don't give out information about my employees and I don't talk about them to strangers behind their back. The fact that you call her Bella means to me you're not really a family member or a close friend. So if you want to contact her, you should come back tomorrow. She will be working here all night."

"I'm no stranger. I'm Emmett."

"Emmett", she mused, taking out a single glass, drying it and putting it on a clean tray. "And who exactly are you, Emmett?"

"I'm a… friend. We went to highschool together. Back in Forks."

"Hm." She didn't say anything after that, just cleaning and polishing glass after glass for minutes, avoiding my pleading eyes. I was losing my patience. I wanted to shake the words out of her. I wanted to smack her and I felt embarrassed I even considered hurting an innocent human that wasn't even my singer. I could almost feel the counter crumble under my hands.

"I'm just worried", I blurted out, the moment I decided to leave because the situation was getting dangerous.

Finally, she met my eyes, resting her hands in the water. "I'm worried, too", she sighed.

"I haven't seen Bella in years", I confessed. "But she seems… unhappy", I choked. Deep inside, I was afraid that this unhappiness was not her own fault.

"Actually, I have never seen her happy", Rebecca stated, and I froze.

"How… how long does she work here?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Almost a year."

I hissed. If she had never seen her happy, that meant my little sister had been unhappy for almost a year? That's great. Something must have happened last year that made her unhappy. And if it had been someone, rather than something, I would crush him to death.

"Maybe she's just stressed out; college and work and all", I mumbled to myself.

"I don't know about college", Rebecca schrugged her shoulders, filling the sink with hot water.

"She IS going to college, right?" I growled, having difficulties not to yell at her.

"I think she went to college when she started here."

"You THINK?", I scoffed. This plastic blonde had no knowledge about my little sister although she was working here for months? What about girlie talk and bonding time and all that shit? I growled again, but in a low volume so she couldn't hear it. I didn't want to scare her away, after all. I needed to know more.

"Isabella doesn't talk much", Rebecca huffed. "I thought… I thought if I wasn't pressing her, she would open up to me after a while. But…"

The red-haired waitress brought some empty ashtrays over and handed them to her boss. As she glanced to me, she shivered and hurried to get away, disappearing around the corner for more work. If my appearance didn't impress Rebecca, it sure worked on the red-head. Hm. Maybe Rebecca's brain was damaged from drug use or too much surgery or something.

"She mentioned classes or exams from time to time. And she was always carrying a book with her, taking the chance to read when there wasn't much work to do or sometimes before her shift started."

I smiled. That was my Bella.

"But after a while, she didn't bring any books along anymore. She started working more an more hours, sometimes even a double, and she's working full-time now. So I guess she's not going to college. That's not possible, with exams going on right know and everything."

I shot her an annoyed look, and she grinned, rinsing the ashtrays: "I'm maybe not studying, but this place is next to the university, and college isn't far away. I know the difference between semesters, terms and holidays after all these years. I can even tell the student's subjects by their orders." She pointed a long, red, fake fingernail at me: "I know you're no student. You're the working type. You're a man of action", she smiled.

I didn't say anything. I was thinking, watching the swirling water around Rebeccas hands that had turned black by now. So, Bella had left college, but not town. She hadn't gone back to Forks. Why? "Maybe she's on a break?" I reasoned.

"Maybe", Rebecca nodded. "Sometimes students take a break and work a few months in here. Studying is expensive, after all, and not all students are rich kids with rich mommy and daddy."

If I had been human, I would have blushed like Bella used to. I felt so ashamed thinking my little sister had to postpone a semester to earn some money for tuition while my family was drowning in it, spending it for stupid things like houses and cars and clothes and travelling.

"I don't know", Rebecca mused, "but I think she said something about a scholarship." No need to argue that Bella had a scholarship. She was bright, my little sister. Rebecca started drying the ashtrays, deep in thought. Then, she shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe she lost it."

Anger boiled deep inside me. "My little sister would never do ANYTHING to lose a scholarship", I bellowed. Rebecca's heartbeat didn't even stutter. She only quirked an eyebrow at me. I was quite impressed. Maybe all these years working in here had made her immune to strange "human" behavior.

"Your little sister?"

"Well… maybe we don't share DNA", I huffed, wondering why I told this fact to a complete stranger. It didn't matter if she was my biological sister or not. "I didn't do anything during the past three years to earn the title of a big brother. But she's definitely my little sister; I haven't seen her in a long time, and I'm worried. She looks so… sad", I choked. I fiddled with my shirt, totally lost. "I… just want to help", I whispered. "It's my duty", I added, too low for her to hear it.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help her", Rebecca apologized. "She doesn't like to talk. She avoids questions, closeness, teamwork. She doesn't want to meet us after work. She avoids even customers. Actually, she's one of the worst employees I ever had", she laughed, and I had some difficulties not to smash her into a fucking wall. How could she talk about Bella like that! I was sure my little sister did everything she could.

"She doesn't flirt, she doesn't talk, she trips every week and breaks some glasses", Rebecca smiled. "I think she's the clumsiest person I ever met." Yeah, that was my Bella. "She doesn't get tips, she drinks at work, and she breaks more glasses. She costs me a fortune. But…" she trailed off.

I sighed. So it wasn't only now and then she enjoyed a drink at work.

"I'm really sorry", Rebecca apologized again. I could see she really felt bad about it. "I can see when someone needs help. I've seen a lot of misery in here every day, after all. Maybe too much of it", she sighed. "I thought if I wouldn't press her, she would finally open up to me and talk about her issues. I was afraid I would scare her off and she would get into trouble. So I deciced to keep her, no matter what the others said. Actually, everyone likes her despite her difficulties with being a waitress."

"Is there a possibility she would get into trouble? What kind of trouble?" I had difficulties to keep my voice down.

"She drinks a lot, Emmett. My employees are aloud to have one or two drinks at work, and one or two while cleaning up. But she has several drinks. Every day. And I think she's drinking more at home after work. She looks like she doesn't sleep. She looks like she doesn't eat properly. I think she really needs help."

I didn't know what to say. We had totally fucked up. If we had stayed, maybe we could have prevented this.

"I mean, if you're really family… you should talk to her."

Yeah. "I don't think that's a good idea", I mumbled. "I would REALLY scare her away for good."

"Maybe my attempt was wrong, maybe I should have confronted her. Maybe I should have threatened to fire her if she doesn't stop drinking. Maybe I should have offered her to visit a support group or a therapist instead of letting her work all night shifts."

Maybe, yeah. "These are a helluva fucking lot of maybes, Rebecca", I sighed. I knew a lot about them.

*****

I waited near her apartment like some sick stalker. Like Edward. I cringed at the thought, but at the sime time I had to acknowledge why he had done it. He was drawn to her. He loved her. He wanted to protect her. And although I loved Bella in another way, I felt the same pull towards her.

After all I had heard from Rebecca, my little sister needed help. And I would help. I didn't know how and when and if I could help without being seen by her. But I would.

I knew I had promised not to interfere. But I couldn't just walk away. I was quite sure he wouldn't have approved me walking away when Bella went home last night. All alone and unprotected. He sure didn't want her getting robbed or molested by this stupid prick yesterday. And he sure hadn't meant me to walk away, knowing she was in trouble.

I would help her. And if he wanted to rip my limbs off afterwards, that would be fucking fine with me. I was already in full little-sister-protecting mode.

*****

After she had left for work, I tried the front door and found it unlocked. Geez. This girl had no sense of sanity left. I mean, this wasn't Forks. This was a fucking big, dangerous city.

The moment I stepped in, a cat bolted out of the window. Seriously? A cat? Too small and not really tasty. I chuckled to myself. Way to go, Emmett, eating the cat of your baby sister. She will welcome you with open arms.

I looked around her room and saw how barren it was. It was like nobody was really living in here, more as someone had already packed his stuff for leaving soon. Even her smell seemed fragile, as if it didn't really belong here. Maybe she didn't spend much time in this apartment? Maybe she spent the nights with someone else?

I didn't know if this was a good sign. Of course it was good to know she had someone to spend her time with. On the other hand… Yuck. I didn't want to think about my baby sister in this way.

A laptop was on a small table, a pile of dust on it. A few pencils and notepads, also covered with dust. The bed looked old and wasn't made. There were no clothes lying around. There were no school books; no papers, files, no binders to be found. Nothing that indicated she was taking classes at college. In fact, there were no books at all and not even CD's. No flowers, no decorations, no magazines, no plushy animals, just none of this girlie stuff. I mean, even Rosalie had some knick-knacks in her room, and she wasn't into decorations like Alice. That's weird.

The room looked… empty. Like some temporary room in a crappy motel. Maybe she wasn't really living here. But someone had to feed the cat regularly, right?

The bathroom was another mystery. It was old (who would have thought?), but so clean even I couldn't detect any signs of dirt or dust. You could have eaten from the floor (considering you were human and couldn't smell the faint lingering cleaning agent).

The fridge was empty. I couldn't remember much of my human days, but I knew this wasn't a healthy diet. There was only rotten smelling pasta left and a bottle of water. I opened the cupboards, and there was this big NOTHING. A few cups and plates and glasses, but no food at all.

Maybe this wasn't even her apartment? Maybe she was only cat-sitting for a friend who had gone on a vacation or was taking classes for a few weeks in another country? That meant she would come here twice a day to feed the cat, but she wouldn't live here. Maybe she had been crying because she was exhausted with college, this job and her duties for this friend with all the exams coming up?

I hoped it was something like this, but deep down, I knew it wasn't true. We had totally fucked up.

*****

I couldn't wait any longer. I had to see her. Now.

After pacing around for an hour, I almost raced to the bar. I didn't know what I would say or do. Should I just watch her? Should I just go in there and ask if she had some spare minutes for her big brother she hadn't seen in almost three years because he had disappeared without even saying goodbye? Yeah, great idea.

Fate made the decision for me.

I spotted her immediately by following her scent. I could only wonder why I didn't manage that the night before. Maybe my vampire abilities had vanished over the years of grieving like Alice's gift.

She was delivering beer to a customer, and the same moment she turned to leave, he touched her. He fucking TOUCHED her. And instead of apologizing, leaving and never coming back, they just laughed.

What. The. Fuck. I wanted to torture him and his friends for long, painful hours. My vision turned red.

"Don't. Touch. Her", I growled. It wasn't loud, but enough to scare them off forever. It was also enough to scare her off.

She looked like a deer in headlights. A trapped animal. She was frozen for several seconds, not breathing at all, and getting paler by the minute. Then, she started blinking several times as if she didn't trust her eyes. She was shaking, but still not breathing. Drops of sweat was building on her forehead, hear heart crashing in her chest.

She was going to faint.

"Bella, breathe", I ordered.

She gulped some air. Her metallic tray shattered down to the floor. Then she turned and ran off.

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Reviews are better than Emmett saving Bella from nasty guys again.

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Coming up next: Bella's POV
I felt his cool, marble arms around my waist and his cold breath on my neck. I sighed and smiled. I knew deep down it was a dream, but it felt so good. It's been a long time I felt this way. "Don't leave me", I mumbled before I fell asleep again.