Here's the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who has favorited and added this story to your alerts! And to those following readers. Let me know what you think.
Chapter Eight: Monkeys and Bananas
"Emmett," Edward groaned in mild exasperation, "I'd rather listen to your thoughts revolve around football, baseball, or even hockey. Anything but Mia's cheerful laughter, golden hair, bright sparkling eyes, and how she has a perfectly shaped-"
"It's hard to concentrate with the girls cackling upstairs." Emmett mumbled while mindlessly moving his Rook across the chessboard. "And Alice has decided to keep her for the weekend…"
Edward laughed at his choice of words, "She's not a pet, Emmett. And on the bright side, your distraction has improved your chess game loads." He gestured to the amount of pieces he had lost in comparison to his own. "For once, you've taken more of mine than I yours."
"If you'd stay out of my head we wouldn't have an issue." Emmett challenged sensitive to the fact that his private thoughts weren't so private when Edward was in the vicinity. "I wonder what they're doing up there now, they've gotten suspiciously quiet."
"What's wrong Mia?" Alice frowned; the girl's mood had dropped off in an instant when Alice went to retrieve her vast collection of fingernail polish. Now Mia sat there mindlessly picking at the leftover pain on her nails. "We don't have to do our nails if you don't want to."
"No, it's okay." Mia blinked back a couple tears and gave Alice a small smile. "It's just, my mom and I use to do each other's nails all the time since neither one of us can hold the brush steady enough to do our own." Mia got a faraway look in her eye and suddenly grinned widely, "We had just installed new carpet in the living room and we were sitting on the floor, I don't remember exactly how it happened but we knocked over a full bottle of neon green nail polish. And when we tried to clean it up, it just made the spot bigger."
Alice smiled at the shared memory, "What did your dad say? Did it stain?"
"He was actually out of town that weekend on a business trip. We spent so much money on cleaning supplies; finally we dumped some bleach on it. It got the stain out, but now there was a huge bright white spot on the floor. So we moved a coffee table over the spot and as far as I know, my dad never found out." Mia spurted out another laugh and bit her bottom lip.
"Well," Alice spread her collection out on the space between where they sat cross-legged on the carpet in her room, "I don't think I have any neon green, but this sparkly green would go great with your eyes."
"And I think…" Mia paused in order to dig through the colors in order to find the right one for her friend. "That midnight blue would complement your shirt."
Alice beamed and poured some acetone onto a cotton swab to begin the removal of her old paint. "So what is this about you being a door slammer?" She laughed and took Mia's hand in her own. "Emmett was saying something to Edward about it and I only overheard a bit of the conversation."
"I had apologized for my erratic behavior in the lunch room and he called what had happened between us weird. And I was telling him that it felt like something more than that. He then proceeded to slam on the brakes and tell me that this was my stop, we weren't even within twenty of my front door." Mia rambled, her irritation bubbling back to the surface. "But I know he felt something too, that look on his face betrayed him."
"You know how big tough guys are, scared of nothing but they're own feelings." Alice mended; she was silent for a moment longer before an idea sparked in her head. "What you two need is some alone time with each other, that'll do the trick and I know just the way."
"Alice…" Mia pleaded with wide eyes. "That won't do anything."
"Pish posh, leave it up to me." Alice winked mischievously.
"Alice, we just went hunting less than a week ago." Jasper protested, thinking his wife was just trying to make sure his thirst was satiated to keep Mia from harm. He knew that she only wanted the best for him, but sometimes it felt as though she smothered him. "And you wouldn't want to leave your guest here alone."
Alice fluttered his thick, black eyelashes at her mate. "I'll tell you later Jaz. And besides, she won't be alone Mia will have Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett. Trust me on this."
Emmett looked at Mia and then to Alice before pleading his case with Edward. "Don't you see what she is trying to do here?" Edward merely smirked and rolled his shoulders back in a shrug. "Whose side are you on?"
"If you're that repulsed by the idea of being in the same building as me, I can go home Emmett." Mia suggested, nervous herself at the thought of being left alone without Alice there to guide her.
"Huh?" Emmett raised an eyebrow before processing what she threatened. "No."
Alice smiled at her flustered brother and linked her arm with Jasper's. "Well come on Edward, Rose is already waiting for us at the edge of the woods." She sported a small wave in Mia's direction, "We'll be back tomorrow afternoon sometime. You guys have fun now."
"For the record, this wasn't my idea." Mia defended herself before she could even be accused of being an accomplice.
"Here's the thing Mia, I can't stand you." Emmett confessed, not noticing the shock that flashed across her face. "I can't stand you being stuck in my head all day and all night; seeing as we can't sleep, it becomes trying after a few nights. I can't stand the constant pull you have one me. I just can't stand you."
"Well," Mia fought back a smile, "maybe you ought to sit down if you can't stand."
Emmett rolled his eyes, "That is exactly what I'm talking about. You're too… You're too much of something."
"So you are admitting that there is something here." Mia spoke each word slowly, moving closer to the man who easily towered over her.
"Well," Emmett cleared his throat, "I think they're showing last Sunday's game on ESPN again."
You've gotta be kidding me, Mia thought to herself. Just before the vampire was out of reach Mia grabbed part of his arm in order to stop him. "Quit walking away from this, Emmett. It's getting on my nerves."
"This?" Emmett spared a look over his shoulder.
Mia let out a belated sigh and let her hand fall back to her side. "I'm going home now, it's been fun."
"Oh no you're not." Emmett contradicted, quickly moving his body so now he stood as a large object for Mia to get around. "When Alice gets back and you're not here, it's going to be my head on a silver platter. So…I'm sorry?"
"That sounds like a question, not an apology." Mia huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What do you want from me woman?" Emmett questioned. He hadn't expected Mia to have such a fiery personality, there was still so much that he had yet to learn about her. Mia's scowl softened immediately after tilting her head back to gaze into his golden eyes. Her annoyance melted away into a pool of contentment, she smiled gently at him to which he returned the favor without realizing it. "Oh."
Mia found the strength to nod her head and grazed the tips of her fingers down his forearm. "This is all new for me, too. I've never felt this drawn to anyone before, I am not sure I even know what to make of it.
Emmett's arm tingled in the precise spots where Mia's fingers had roamed. I think I know exactly what you mean. "So I guess that makes me something of a chick magnet huh?" He let out a bellowing laugh that forced Mia to shrink back. When he was finally able to control his laughter he saw a less than amused Mia looking up at him. "Wanna watch some movies?"
Mia rolled her eyes playfully, "Sure."
Emmett sighed and spared another peek at the alarm clock that read 6:59 am in bright red letters. He contemplated remaining in his oversized bed that he only shared with himself, but decided that he would rather begin Mia's day early. After all, he could use some companionship; nights were rough when you couldn't sleep. Emmett dragged himself half-heartedly down the hall and to the left where the guest bedroom was located; he knocked loudly and slumped himself against the frame of the door. "You're not going to sleep all day are you?"
Mia let out a groan and made an attempt to pull the blankets up over her head before she realized that was in fact, not at home. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and started to sit up. "How did I get into bed?"
"You were out cold after a couple movies so I carried you." Emmett answered nonchalantly. "How do you like those monkey pajamas? Nice aren't they, picked 'em out myself. Though I'm not really sure why we had them just-"
"You dressed me!" Mia cried in horror, pulling the blankets up to her chest that was indeed covered in monkey print.
He couldn't hold back his laughter upon seeing her horror-struck face. "Of course not. Esme did. And speaking of, she made you some pancakes before she left. So get with the rising and the shinning."
Mia let out a sigh of relief and began to discard of the blankets that were wrapped tightly around her body. "What time is it anyway?"
"Just after seven." Emmett smiled cheekily. "Good thing I got you up when I did, you would have slept the day away if I wasn't here."
"Oh yes, I might have slept until nine. Now that is a true tragedy." Mia sassed, subconsciously fixing the hair that she knew seemed to stick off in every direction. While following mindlessly behind him, Mia took in the monkey and banana pajamas and shook her head. "Were these really necessary?"
"Of course." Emmett chuckled. "I've gotta keep myself entertained some way."
"Ridiculous." Mia mumbled under her breath. She took a seat at the mahogany table while Emmett traveled into the kitchen to retrieve the pile of pancakes out of the oven.
Emmett came back into the room with a plate in one hand and a fork and bottle of syrup balanced in the other. "Breakfast is served."
"Aren't you a gentleman." Mia praised with a cheeky grin, she graciously accepted the meal and began to dig in with a new found hunger. When she took a pause from shoveling the delicious creation into her mouth she found Emmett to be staring with nonchalance. "Must you watch me eat, it's a little unnerving."
"Eh, I've got nothing better to do; so keep eating." Emmett answered with a faked yawn.
Mia reluctantly picked her fork back up to finish off the last few bites before there was nothing left on the china but a few stray crumbs. "So where am I putting this? Do you have a dish washer or anything?" Mia began heading in the direction of the kitchen without waiting for an answer.
"Put it in the sin." Emmett directed, following behind her. "Esme likes to do the dishes. She likes to feel needed, plus she said it makes her feel human, whatever. Being human is so over-rated." He joked, nudging Mia in the back playfully.
Mia sat the dirtied dish into the empty sink, "It's not too bad, really." She mused while turning around and almost bumping into Emmett's chest; she hadn't realized his close proximity to her.
"Your heart beat just increased twenty pulses." Emmett laughed with a large grin. He blocked Mia's attempt to side-step him by placing his large hands on the counter behind her, blocking either side. "Scared?"
Mia stuck her tongue out at him in a rapid flash. "Of course not. You just startled me, that's all; I didn't think you were so close behind me. So don't give yourself too much credit there sunshine."
"Spunky little thing aren't you, kid?" Emmett roared in laughter, causing Mia to cringe at the sudden outburst.
"Hey, I can't be that much younger than you, thank you very much." Mia replied curtly.
Emmett cocked an eyebrow at her, perfectly arched. "I was born in 1915 in Tennessee. I was changed into a vampire at the age of twenty. I think I win in the age department."
"Well technically speaking you are way older than me then, but your physical age doesn't make you that much older. A little more than two years isn't a big difference." Mia corrected herself quickly after hearing his revelation.
"There you go." He mused with a grin, even though his heart wasn't in it. His gaze became transfixed on the blood that pulsated through her neck- seemingly calling out to him. Emmett tore his gaze away from what he desired and rolled his eyes over her calm-appearing face. He soon found himself leaning down closer to her face, eye transfixed on her pink lips.
Before Mia had time to realize what was occurring, she felt his chilling- but soft- lips on her own; but in an instant they were gone and she was left feeling dazed and a tad confused. "What-"
"Shhh." Emmett hushed quickly; he could feel his own body tense as his lips hovered over hers, barely gliding against them once more. Mia remained motionless and aware of his hesitance when a shudder erupted through her body, but not from the cold- from the anticipation of physical contact with him. Emmett let out an unnoticeable sigh and increased the distance between them immediately.
The front door opened a second later and Esme appeared around the corner. "How were the pancakes, Mia?" The kind woman asked while shoving full bags into Emmett's open arms.
Mia shook off her confusion at what had just happened thirty seconds ago and flashed Esme a bright smile. "They were really good. Great as a matter of fact." So much about Esme reminded Mia of her deceased mother, from her small frame to her relentless kindness.
Esme smiled at the compliment. "I'm glad you liked them Mia, but all I had to do was read instructions on the back of the box. So what have you two been up to so far this morning?"
"Nothing." They both answered in unison, after which they caught each other's gaze.
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