A/N: I know, I know. Short chapter. But the piece that I wanted to add on to it made it a bit too long for my taste, and didn't fit together very well, either. Sorry for taking so long to update – things kind of got out of hand. I really should be studying for my Chem SAT II right now, as it is next week and I haven't even started (Yes, I do realize how shameful that is)…Oh, well. You know the drill, everyone...R&R ; )

-Lisa

Oh yeah, and Robert Pattinson is hot.

A Different Decision

By: Twilighter

Emmett was bored. Jasper was bored.

And that was how it all started.

I have no idea how I got involved. First, I was playing the tortured victim of Alice as she made me try on clothes for her – to show my appreciation, she'd said. The next thing I knew, I was being corralled into a wrestling match because of a childish bet made between those two Cullen brothers. And I was not pleased.

We were all situated in behind Tanya's house, on the large expanse of grass that could loosely be called a backyard. First it was just me, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper. Then, Edward had heard – presumably from one of their minds – and was quite vocal in his defense of me; he didn't want me involved in their immature games.

The commotion had then inevitably drawn Rosalie. She'd loped gracefully into the backyard with a wide, genuine smile – a rare occurrence for Rosalie. "Oh this I have to see," she'd said, eyes bright with wicked humor.

And, gradually, the rest of the vampires had managed to trickle out to watch the spectacle. My stomach sunk with each new face.

Now I stood nervously off to the side, intimidated not only by the gigantic menace that was Emmett, but also by the fact that everyone was going to watch. And I was going to be humiliated – I didn't know how to prepare myself for this sort of thing, and I didn't know any kinds of…moves, or strategies. I'd only ever fought someone once.

I recalled my mind to my fight with Esme, trying to feel what I'd felt while engaged in action, while at the same time trying to block the circumstances of it out. I hadn't really had much presence of mind at the time, given the situation, but every detail was clearly imprinted in my head. I'd found my strengths, her weaknesses, and used them against her. In that case, I'd been able to physically overpower her. It had been relatively easy.

I doubted it would be the same with Emmett.

I glanced over at him again, eyeing his all-too-prominent, stone muscles with trepidation. Then Jasper sauntered over to me, smiling slightly at what he considered unnecessary fears.

"Don't worry, we all have faith in you," he said as his own artificial brand of confidence smoothed away some of my anxiety.

I laughed weakly. "You might, but I don't."

Jasper shook his head, smirk more pronounced. "I can't wait to see you trounce him. He's not as scary as he looks." I narrowed my eyes at him, sure that he was only trying to convince me of this in order to win the bet.

He laughed again at my feelings of accusation.

Just then, a highly amused voice rose above the others. "A hundred dollars says that Bella's going to win," Alice sang to the group, grinning widely.

Eyes unfocused, Edward watched whatever possibility was playing through her head. "I'll take that bet," he said confidently, though he still looked a bit unhappy with what we were doing. But he wagered anyway. Sure – why not attempt to make money off of my mortification?

"Us, too."

"And me."

My eyebrows rose incredulously.

"Hey!" Emmett shouted petulantly, brimming with indignation. I shared his opinion – why was everyone betting that I would win? I knew that if I had any money to my name, I would have undoubtedly put it on Emmett.

Irina rested a hand soothingly on Emmett's bicep, stroking it with her thumb in an admiring sort of way. "It's okay, Emmett. I think you can win," she said flirtatiously, fawning over him. His wounded ego somewhat preened, he grinned triumphantly at the vote of confidence.

"Watch it, Irina." Rosalie's territorial voice lashed out like a whip, and Irina dropped her hand, like she was afraid that if she left it there, she would not have it for much longer. She stalked away from Emmett, muttering something about greedy, selfish females.

Esme spoke up. "Shall I referee?"

"No, I'll call it," Edward declared with a slightly protective sort of glance at me. Several pairs of knowing eyes glanced at him, then away.

My stomach did flips but I just raised my eyebrows questioningly, a hint of a smile on my face.

He shrugged, nonchalant. "Emmett can sometimes be overenthusiastic," he justified. "And I promised to keep you safe," he finished, still casual, but at a lower volume. However, it didn't go unheard by Esme, who tried to cover her smile demurely with her hand, and did not quite succeed. She edged away from the conversation, hurrying in the opposite direction as she tried to act like nothing unusual happened.

Edward turned to me after a long look at Esme's back. "Be safe, okay?"

"Why do you even have to referee? I thought something like this, just a little sport, couldn't hurt me?" I wondered.

"It can't, really. All the same, I'd rather be the one to keep an eye on things." He hesitated. "Rely on your instincts. Don't be afraid of him. You know how to defend yourself – it's just animal nature."

I nodded, trying to look like I understood. He walked away. And we were ready to fight.

Emmett stood opposite me, roughly fifteen yards away. Edward stood right in between us. "Alright, Emmett. You know the rules." He looked to me. "The first one to hold their opponent down for a count of three wins."

Then he moved out of the way, to stand on the peripheral of my vision.

"Begin."

Emmett sank down into a crouch, catlike despite his bulk. He grinned at me arrogantly before his lips pulled away from his teeth. A terrible roar came from deep within him – the vampire equivalent of badmouthing their foe. In response, my body went on autopilot. Instead of feeling like I wanted to run away, I responded to his challenge, dropping low into its own fierce stance, knees bent, fingers skimming the ground. A snarl began in my own chest, equaling his own.

His feet moved, and mine moved correspondingly. We moved closer – circling, making no overt moves yet, squaring each other up like predator and prey. It surprised me how automatic the motions felt.

He lurched forward, his hands reaching out to grab me, but I ducked and twisted away, faster on my feet than he was. His grasping fingers clutched nothing but air. But, more skilled than I could ever hope to be, he recovered faster, and lunged at me from behind. I ducked in time, but was less graceful in this attempt. Again, my inexperience denied me knowledge of what to expect, and I couldn't keep up with his confusing movements. He lunged at me from the side and threw me off balance, sending me to the ground. He pinned me, but, with difficulty, I managed to twist myself out of his grip. My arm met his chest with a loud crack. From then on, each time our bodies met, there was a hard clattering noise, like rock on rock.

Despite the competitive atmosphere, we were both holding back, as to not cause real injury. There was no pain involved, only the shock of impact as we collided, or hit the grassy floor. I could still sense Edward and the others around us, excitedly watching the fight, hearing their cries of satisfaction and discontent, egging us both on.

My body arched and distorted, eluding Emmett as he charged on me, trying to capture me. On a frantic whim, I managed to wrap my arms around his torso, and to my surprise, he couldn't break my grip. He fought and struggled, growling as I managed to hold him to the floor.

The count was called. On three, I released him. I rose from my kneeling position, my shock spelled clearly across my face. Emmett remained lying in position, banged his fist against the ground in frustration, then swore before getting up and walking away from the converging group. He was sore about losing.

Inwardly, I smiled, surprised that I'd managed to bruise his fragile male ego.

I received several claps on the back, and money exchanged hands. I tried to keep the glory of victory from making me smug.

Jasper found me again, and we both watched Emmett's back as he retreated into the surrounding environment, presumably to cool off. "Don't worry about him," Jasper assured me. "He's always like this when he loses – he can't stand it. He'll congratulate you later, though. And, not to mention, ask for a rematch."

The Tanya loped over, throwing a casual arm over Jasper's shoulders as she greeted me. "Well done, Bella."

Just as smoothly, Jasper ducked from underneath her arm, on the pretense of smoothing out his sandy blond hair. He smiled at me apologetically before drifting away towards Alice, who pulled him into the house with an adoring smile. Tanya watched him go, slightly disappointed.

"Thank you," I responded politely.

"You don't sound that proud. Or excited. A tangle like that must have been some fun," she said, with a suggestive eyebrow raised.

"Rather than risk Rosalie's wrath, I have to confess that I'm not interested in Emmett," I told her, grinning. "Besides, if you think it would be so much fun, why don't you participate?"

Tanya tilted her head playfully. "We're lovers, not fighters. Plus, I don't think that my pride would be able to stand losing. And – at the risk of sounding improper – I, too, fear the wrath of the Cullen women." She grinned, and then shrugged. "But that doesn't mean I can't watch."

I raised my eyebrows. "Must every other sentence be an innuendo with you, Tanya?"

"Maybe it wasn't an innuendo. If I were you, I'd get my mind out of the gutter. Or maybe I wouldn't. Who knows? With Edward hanging onto you everywhere you go, I guess I can't blame you."

I rolled my eyes, thankful that he was nowhere in sight at the moment – he'd disappeared sometime after my victory. It was a small relief that I knew he wasn't listening. "Get over it, Tanya."

She shrugged again. Looking over my shoulder, she said "I'd better go. It looks like someone else wants to talk to you."

Rosalie came and sat next to me on the green, nodding at Tanya as she past. "She can be persistent, that one. You should've seen her when she was pursuing Edward." She paused. "You know we're all just kidding, right? We don't mean to make you uncomfortable."

I smiled at her consideration. "It's fine. I hardly even bat an eye at it anymore." Not true. "It's just a bit annoying."

She nodded, thinking that reasonable, before tactfully changing the subject. "You know, it's been a while since Emmett's been beaten so easily," she said with a lilting voice.

I glanced at her; she looked almost smug. "He's your husband; shouldn't you have been supporting him?" I'd noticed that she'd bet on me as well.

She laughed. "He may be my husband, but that doesn't mean I have to coddle him – Emmett's spoiled enough as it is. He deserves to be humbled every once in a while. It's good for him…. Besides, I wasn't about to back a losing horse."

"Why so sure that I would win?"

"Of all of us, Emmett relies the least on skill, and the most on strength. Just like a newborn. And considering that newborns are stronger, it makes sense that he would lose."

"Why are newborns stronger?" I asked, curious.

She shrugged. "I'm not too sure. Carlisle believes that it has something to do with the fact that their own blood still runs through their systems…which is what makes their eyes red, as well. After about a year, it runs out, all used up. Then, in your case, your eyes will be gold."

I sighed. "It makes little sense, doesn't it? No heartbeat, no need to breathe. We shouldn't be alive."

Her good humor vanished, and her lips pressed together into a tight line. "No. We shouldn't."

Rosalie, with her regal beauty and bold manner, was especially intimidating when angry. We sat there silently for a few minutes before I got up the courage to speak again.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I didn't mean to upset you."

She leaned back on her palms, fingers threading through the stiff grass, which was poking out from underneath a layer of uneven frost. At first I thought that she wasn't going to answer. "Not your fault," she said sullenly. "I hate everything about this life. I'd rather be dead. The only things that make it bearable are Emmett and the rest of them." She shook her head. "But don't let me make you bitter," she said acidly.

I didn't know how to respond. Her hard eyes glanced over at me, then went guiltily back to the ground. "Not your fault," she whispered, more to herself than to me. She then put on a fake smile. "Maybe you're right. I should go find Emmett."

She stood up, dusting off her pants, and then took off into trees. I noticed unhappily that it was in a completely different direction than Emmett had gone.

It didn't seem fair, somehow, that I was more content with my life than she was. Rosalie seemed to have everything, on the surface. And here I was, still new to it all, but so much more acclimated and satisfied than she was. I had to think that maybe Edward was right. Maybe I never was meant to stay human.