...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...~...

Baby, if I'm half the man I say I am

If I'm a woman with no fear just like I claim I am

Then I believe in what you say, there's nothing left for you to do

The only proof that I need is you
~Proof by Paramore~

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Lunch may have ended but the day had not ended yet. Time for English. When the bell had rung, Emmett and myself passed by the table that Bella was sitting at. She smiled at me. She was happy and so was I. Neither one of us knew what was going on with the Cullens but we knew we would eventually. We understood the situation of each other. We were going through the same things. Back to Emmett and we were off to English.

On the way, we were still talking. This time, I got a tiny bit of information. Not some much about him but to do with him. "You know what happened last week right?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm assuming Alice told you what happened after English with that one girl."

"Stacey."

"Stacey?"

"That's her name."

"She seems to have the impression that you two are meant to be together."

He laughed again. Very melodic. "She's a little crazy. I had to work with her on a project last year and she's been stuck on me since then."

"Well, I'm sure she's going to have a bitch fit when she sees us talking."

"I wouldn't worry about her. She never appealed to me."

That thought made me smile. No one ever seemed to appeal to him. From what I gather from other students, the way he acted with me was different. There was something about me that affected him and something about that made me happy. Not entirely sure why at that point.

Heading into the class room, all eyes were on us. Especially Stacey's. It was hilarious to see her laughing with her friends then suddenly sees us. If life were a cartoon, steam would be coming out of her ears. Even Emmett laughed with me. When she caught my line of sight, just to get the point across, I flipped her off. Got her even more. Don't know why I did it. I just wanted to.

The class went well though. Since we were actually talking, we were able to really work on our project. We had to read a book, off of a list, and do a report on it. Choosing a book was the hardest part. We narrowed it down but actually picking was the hard part. He made the final decision. At that point, I didn't really care. Once that was done we had to try and figure out an idea of how we wanted to do the report. We weren't sure at that point, but we both knew we wanted to do it in costume. Would have to ask Alice to help me on that one.

Once the bell rang, we grabbed our things and headed to gym class. Until we left her sight, Stacey was still glaring. She just couldn't grasp the idea that Emmett didn't want her. Eventually she would try to do something to me and I would be ready for her. Emmett started to ask more questions. And I answered them. But before we headed our separate ways, there was one thing I needed to know. "Emmett, when do I actually get to ask you questions?"

"I have a lot more to go."

He didn't want me to ask anything yet. He still wanted to hide whatever his secret was. "I will ask eventually. You can't go on forever. I'll have my turn."

Of course there was a slight hesitance in his reaction. Not exactly a surprise. I just smiled and headed into the locker room.

Gym was better this time. I was actually able to play. Soccer had ended. We started baseball. The class was split into two teams. Emmett was the captain of one, and I was the captain of the other. Without saying anything, we knew it was a little competition between the two of us. It was just the looks that we gave to each other. It was a full on game. The other kids didn't take it that seriously and that was fine. It was fun though; more so then I thought. I got lucky. I had some really good players on my team. So of course we won. I couldn't help but smile and laugh at the end of class. When he was that, he got all child-like and stuck his tongue out at me, which made me laugh even more.

But just like that, the class was over. School was over. Once cleaned up and dressed, I left the locker room only to be met with Emmett again. Not that I was complaining. With a smile we headed to the parking lot. Questions were still asked along the way. By the time that we got to the parking lot only two vehicles remained. My truck and a Jeep. I put my bag in my truck but I didn't leave. I walked to the back and pulled the tailgate down. Sitting down, Emmett sat too. "You okay?"

"Just don't want to go home."

"I know you didn't want to tell me earlier but will you tell me why you are on your own."

"I..."

"I'll tell you something about me if that helps."

"Really?"

"Cross my heart." he said with that child-like smile.

"Okay. I just won't go into a lot of details. Not now."

He grabbed my hand lightly, as if to show support.

This was hard enough to deal with in the past. It was hard to think about. I just didn't want it to change how he thought about me. "So why are you on your own?"

"I'm emancipated and have been for two years. I...Emmett...my parents were...they were abusive."

He didn't say anything. He looked angry. I looked at the ground. "It was mental and...and emotional at first but...it got worse and eventually became physical. I had to get away from them."

Wiping away a tear, I went to look at Emmett but he was gone. He was nowhere to be seen.

Why the hell did he leave? Where did he go? Damnit. I had just told him and he runs off. A growl and then a large crash came from the forest near the school. Shit. Was that Emmett? Did something happen to him? Just as I was about to stand up, Emmett came out from where the noise came from. "Emmett, what the hell was that?"

"I didn't want you to see me angry. I can't stand the thought of someone hurting you like that."

"Emmett, please..."

"Sorry. Didn't mean for that to happen."

"Didn't expect that was what I was going to say was it?"

"I didn't know what to expect. You hold it well."

"I tried to hide it for years when it was happening. If nobody knew about it, I could forget about it. I wanted to forget. That's why I came here. Are you okay though?"

"What?"

He genuinely seemed surprised. "I heard the crash or whatever the hell it was."

"I'm fine," he said with a forced smile. "Now, you deserve something from me. I promised I would tell you something."

"I..."

These boots are made for walking And that's just what they'll do...

My phone. Just had to ring. But again, I had to answer it. The number wasn't one I recognized but I knew it was from Forks. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Alexandra Evans?"

"Speaking."

"Hi. This is Tina, the owner of Tina's Seaside Café."

"Hey."

"To be blunt and out right, you have the job."

My mouth dropped. "Seriously?"

"Yes," she said laughing, as if she could see my face, "You have experience and you seem like you could handle the tough crowds. Can you start tomorrow? From 4 to 10?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"You are very welcome. We will see you tomorrow at 4. Wear black pants and non-slip shoes. We'll give you a shirt when you get here."

"See you then. And again, thank you."

I hung up, put my phone in my pocket, and just started smiling.

Only thing I could do. I jumped up and down a little bit. There was no more worries about having a job. I had one. I was excited. Emmett just leaned against my truck and laughed at my display. "I got a job Emmett. The one at the cafe. YAY!"

The excitement over-rode any rational thought. So I hugged him. I just wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him.

Definitely a bad idea. HE was no longer laughing. Almost as soon as I touched him, he tensed up. This was completely unlike any other time I may have touched him. This moment had a entirely different feel. It was like everything had disappeared and we were totally and utterly alone. I stepped back a little to get a look at him. Tension showed over every inch of him. His eyes, when moments before wee golden, were black. Pitch black and completely menacing. A switch had been flipped and an animal took his place. No doubt that he wanted to kill me.

I could barely breathe. I tried to move further away from him. Before I could even move an inch, Emmett had me pinned against my truck. No chance in getting away at that point. I was stuck. Emmett lifted a hand to move hair away from my neck. He took a deep breath, taking me 'scent' in. I couldn't look at him. Closing my eyes, I tried not to breathe...or cry. I tried not to move at all.

The moment I eventually opened my eyes, his family was right behind him, horrified looks showed on their faces. A millisecond later, Jasper, Wyatt, and Rosalie had pulled Emmett away from me. Even with Emmett not being near me, I couldn't move. I was frozen in place. The image of him looking like he wanted to kill me would not leave my mind. Two pairs of arms wrapped themselves around me. Edward and Alice. A few blinks broke me out of my trance. Emmett was still trying to come after me, with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes. And that was with three people holding him back.

I had no chance to protest, to do anything, when I was picked up and placed in the passenger seat of my truck. Edward buckled me in while Alive hopped in the drivers side. I couldn't speak. The image of Emmett still would not leave my mind. Even looking at Alice, all I could see what him. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

What could I say? Was I really even okay? My body wouldn't let me respond. "You'll be okay Alex. I know you will. Emmett would never kill you. He wouldn't let himself. The guilt he would feel would be horrendously vast. There is just too much at stake if he were to hurt you."

"What do you mean?" I asked feebly, finally find my voice.

"We'll explain it to you when we get to our house. You will need to be let in on a few things considering the circumstances."

I couldn't speak and she wasn't saying anything else. So I just had to wait until we got to where we were going.

.

Only when the car stopped did I actually look at where we were. In the middle of this forest was a beautiful house. A three story, white, Victorian yet somehow modern home. Definitely had to be the Cullen's house. I knew I had to move. I knew I had to get out. I just couldn't do it. Alice had her own ideas. So much so that she came to my side of the truck, unbuckled me, and picked me up effortlessly. Even in this beautiful place, with the oddness of Alice carrying me, I was still picturing Emmett. We had been talking all day. Nothing in any of our conversations pointed to any aggression. Never could I have imagine that he would do something like that. Even when we didn't talk, he was never like that. At this point I wanted...no, I needed to know what was going on.

Being pulled from the moment, I was placed on the couch. Alice, Edward, Rosalie, Carlisle, and a woman who I assumed was Esme were in the living room with me. Jasper and Wyatt weren't there. I assumed they were with Emmett, keeping him away from me. "Alexa," Carlisle spoke, "It's good to see you again. Though it would be better if it were under better circumstances."

"I would definitely have to say the same, Carlisle."

Silence surrounded us, all of us.

There was no time to bullshit around. There was just one thing to do. Just buck up and get this whole thing over with. "So...what happened? Why I am here?"

Esme, of all of them, came and sat down on my right. Placing a calming hand on my shoulder, she spoke. "What was Emmett like before the incident today?"

"When I first met him, when I literally bumped into him, I didn't have a clue why he was acting like that. I apologized and it didn't seem to matter. It made me curious when I was told he never usally acted like that. I wanted to know what his issue was, thought he didn't want me to. He is so stubborn."

Someone laughed. I couldn't pinpoint who. "Anyways...even with his actions, I seemed to feel this pull to him. During the incident in gym where we knocked into each other, I touched him. Cold as ice and hard as a rock. But what happened was even more of a shock, literally. I felt this shock, a pleasant kind of electric current. It was odd."

"What was he like today?"

"He was great. Friendly. He was asking me questions constantly. With every answer I gave, he listened and genuinely seemed interested in what I was saying. Didn't give me any time to ask questions though. He...he showed me something I hadn't seen very much of...interest and care. He seemed so carefree, and mostly relaxed. The only tension was when I tried to ask about him. Never did I think he would do something like that. There was no sign of him wanting to attack me."

I stopped. That was all I really could say.

Only then did Edward come and sit on my left. He didn't say anything. He just looked at me, concentrating. No one was talking so my mind was free to wander. It went to Emmett, to where he was, and even with the situation, if he was okay. He seemed to care about me. But I still didn't feel good enough. As much as it pained me to think about it, how my parents treated me, had a lasting effect. "Alexa...don't put yourself down. You have so much strength for going through what you did. You are good enough."

"You...how the hell did you know what I...you..."

"I'm a mind reader, but I can't read you very well. I can't hear anything from a distance. Even being this close to you I can only pick up on a few thoughts."

"How the hell is that even possible?"

"It's not just me. Some of our family...we have abilities. They are not all the same but they are there."

"Edward..."

"It is the truth. It is a part of what we are."

"And that is?"

"We're not exactly human Alexa."

"Then what are you?"

All of their eyes were on me as silence filled the room. They wanted to see my reaction to this revelation.