Time Alone

Emmett POV

Absently, I pushed the joystick on my controller, scrolling through the queues, searching for something to watch on Netflix. Too bad I've pretty much seen everything. That's what happens when you have eternity and you don't need to sleep. Edward was sitting Indian-style on the floor, leaning with his back against the arm of the loveseat, doing the New York Times crossword puzzle. It was Sunday, so it was the most difficult puzzle of the week. Of course, he was killing it. Bastard.

It occurred to me that I hadn't seen the wolf in several hours. Usually those two were attached at the hip. Hey, where's Jake hiding?

Not looking up from his puzzle, Edward replied, "He went to the Rez for a few days to see his dad and the pack."

I felt my eyebrows knit together. "Without you?"

He let out a short, humorless laugh. "Well, I'm not exactly welcome on the Rez..."

Oh, I assumed that they would make an exception for the imprint of one of their own, even if he was a vampire. But I thought the pack was cool with you guys?

Edward laid his pen down, looking slightly annoyed that I was interrupting his flow. "I wouldn't go that far. They accept the fact that we're together, but it doesn't mean they like it. Some are more accepting than others." He sighed, his face resigned. "Anyway, the treaty remains intact."

My brow creased further as I considered his situation. How shitty that they had to live like that, knowing that, in a lot of ways, their relationship was frowned upon.

Edward nodded solemnly. "Yeah, it's...inconvenient."

That's putting it lightly. So Jake is going to be gone for days? He only nodded, returning his attention to the crossword. I don't know how Edward could stand to be apart from his mate for so long. In my whole existence, the longest I'd ever been away from Rosie was 24 hours, and I had missed her terribly. I remembered how my heart ached, knowing that she wasn't near enough to talk to, or hold if I wanted to. But here was my brother, lazily doing a crossword puzzle, seemingly without a second thought for Jacob. Don't you miss him?

Edward put down his puzzle and shrugged. "It's not that I don't miss him, but I kind of feel free, in a way." Geez, he was making it sound like Jacob was a ball and chain! Edward reacted to my speculations quickly, holding up his hands to stop that train of thought. "Don't get me wrong - I love Jake, and I love being around him - most of the time..."

He trailed off, seeming to get lost in his thoughts. God, I hated when he dragged out his explanations like this. Just spit it out already! He rolled his eyes dramatically, but continued seriously.

"Everybody needs to be alone sometimes. I do, Jacob does. You yourself are having time alone this very moment!" I nodded - Rose was out shopping with Alice.

"I just think that everyone needs time to themselves to just be. Not to have to consider another person's thoughts," he paused, looking up at me, "...or feelings, as the case may be."

I leaned back against the couch, considering what he was saying. He was right. Me and Rose actually spent a lot of time apart, but we spent an equal amount of time together, so I guess I never really noticed or minded. Our time apart and our time together was spread out evenly among the days, and that allowed us not to really miss each other too much. And while we did relish the time to ourselves, we never felt truly complete until we were together again. Maybe extended time away, like Edward and Jacob were having now, would do us some good. After all, some poet or something once said 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder.'

Edward nodded at my thoughts. "Indeed they did."

I smiled to myself in satisfaction. I felt like I had grown a little bit today. Not once during that conversation did I think about sex.

Edward smirked, his response droll.

"I'm very proud of you, Emmett. But, I'm sure it won't last."

Prick.

"See? That was kind of sexual..."

Unthinkingly, I launched myself at him, successfully taking him by surprise and tackling him to the ground. We wrestled each other for a while, careful not to break too much furniture. Not once during our playful fighting did I think about him being gay. He was just my little brother - my brother who was oh-so-good at taking a noogie...

A/N: Kind of a fluffy one for you :)