The Adventures of Emmett and Rosalie – Exposure
T just incase
I own the headache I have right now, but I'm willing to sell it on ebay lol. (I think it's the teeny tiny Emmett and Rosalie in my brain trying to break loose. Their always yelling at me.) Stephenie Meyer owns everything else.
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This was going to be the worst camping trip ever. I should have stayed home and kept Rosalie company. Even if I couldn't be near her in the house, I could talk to her through a wall or something. That might not even be allowed. I had no idea if she was grounded, confined to her room for a year, or sent away to live somewhere else. Esme was probably handing it to her endlessly about what she did. I don't see what the problem was. She was upset and wanted to say goodbye.
As Edward jogged ahead of me on the trail, I silently followed lost in my own thoughts and memories. It was pitch black out now, and the moon was hidden behind a thick cloud. We weren't running full out, just a humanly sprint past the trees and scenery. My mind wandered back to that morning and their argument while I hid in the garage. I didn't want to get caught in the middle of it, but in a way, I was already there. I know they had trouble getting along at times, but each one tried to make an effort in their own way. I never expected to see her get so upset about being left behind this weekend. I thought she would be glad to get rid of me for a few days. To get rid of Edward, too. He didn't have to yell at her the way he did and call her all those names. I was still mad at him about that, but I was trying to let it go.
I thought back to when I tried to make them shake hands and apologize to each other, but they wouldn't budge. I've never seen Rosalie look so hateful. Then out of nowhere, she turned and smiled at me like none of it ever happened. It scared me. How do girls do that? Then suddenly, she was up against my chest, in my arms, all over me. I could smell her hair, her perfume, everything so clearly, I forgot where I was. I grabbed her up like I was never going to let her go. The way she kissed me was the way I had been dying to kiss her from the moment I woke up, but I was too afraid. If Esme hadn't come back and stopped her, I don't know what I would have done. The possibilities were endless and very interesting to imagine.
"STOP!" I came to halt just inches from crashing into Edward's back and almost knocked him over.
"What? People? Where?" I looked around, but we were totally isolated. There weren't even any animals worth preying upon. What was he yelling about?
"No, STOP! Stop thinking about…that! I can hear it, all of it! It's disgusting. She's still my sister, you know. As much as I can't stand her at this moment, she's my sister and I don't like you thinking about her in those…ways." He flailed his arms at me and looked absolutely nauseated. "If you think about her all weekend, it will be like she's really here. We might as well have brought her along and saved ourselves an argument and her a jail sentence."
"Sorry. I didn't realize you could hear all that. I thought you could switch it on and off when you wanted to." We began jogging again at a faster pace.
"I can't tune you out really, because it's just me and you out here. There isn't much else to listen to. Plus I'm so used to hearing you, it just happens. Like breathing."
"Yeah, why do we breathe, Edward? I've been meaning to ask you that. I can't make any sense of it. We're dead." It was an honest question I had wanted to bring up, but it also changed the subject.
"Can you smell without breathing, Emmett? Try it." I tried, he was right. "You can't speak without breathing, either. Your vocal chords won't work unless you can pass air over them to make sound." Again, he was right. He probably thought I was a total moron for asking him these questions. Maybe silence was better? I decided to stop talking so much and take in the scenery around us. I thought of old songs I hadn't heard in a while and tried to remember the lyrics to pass the time.
--
I sat in the window seat of my bedroom and stared out into the blackness. Occasionally, the moon would peek out from the clouds and bathe the trees in a soft glow, but then it would vanish again and leave them in total darkness. This was a good representation of my ability to be happy lately. Every so often, the clouds would part and I would find a good moment. I was often forced to take that moment and hide it away in my memory because I knew it would end too soon, and the darkness would be back.
I clutched a pillow to my chest with my knees bent up around it and sobbed softly to myself. I couldn't cry. That was impossible. My tears had been dried up for two long years and would never come back. That didn't make the sadness or loneliness any more bearable. I could hear Esme and Carlisle talking in the kitchen below as if they were in my room beside me.
"I don't understand it. She gave up the car…for Emmett? Why?"
"Our Rosalie is in love, dear. You can't fight that. You can try as hard as you like, but bribing her with that car was a bad idea." Esme was right. It was a bad idea. A low-down, sneaky, bad idea. "Why can't you forget these silly old fashioned rules and just let them find their own way?"
"I set these rules for a reason. They need guidance. Their teenagers, Esme. They need to learn how to act appropriately."
"Emmett's true age is twenty, Carlisle. His papers may say eighteen, but he's well over age. And Rosalie is eighteen. She is twenty, if you count her true age. They are adults, not teenagers. You can't expect them to follow your rules forever, and forever is a very long time for us. You could let them spend eternity with each other in happiness, or without each other in absolute misery. Which do you prefer?"
Carlisle was silent for a long time. I guessed he was thinking. "No, I won't back down to them. I set my rules and that's that."
"What about the car?"
"I haven't decided yet. Maybe I ought to give it to Edward? He could get some use out of it. Rosalie has no desire to go anywhere. She is still fighting me on the idea of school. She's ready. She just can't see the possibilities she could gain from the experience."
"You push her too hard, Carlisle. You're going to push her away. Don't give the car to Edward. That will destroy her. I can't believe you even considered that. He has enough money to buy his own car, if he wanted one. If she's leery of school, let her stay home a little longer, but don't push her so hard."
There was more silence, then footsteps around the room. "Alright, Esme. I'm coming to bed. No more work for tonight. I hear you." She must have whispered something to him that I couldn't hear. I heard them giggling up the stairs like teenagers themselves before their bedroom door swung shut and locked for the night. I didn't know what to do with myself after that.
I decided to wander and see where I ended up. I went downstairs through the living room toward the kitchen. I noticed a door was open in the hall, so I slowly crept toward it. In carved wooden letters on the outside of the door, I ran my fingers delicately over the name Emmett. I had the same letters on my door and Edward had his, as well. It was a gift of sorts from Esme, a welcome home present. I pressed on the slightly open door and it swung easily. I had been in the room a few times this week, just for a moment or two, but it had changed dramatically from the day Emmett had joined us. The walls were now painted a light blue to cover the brown wood grain of the paneling. Brown and green blankets had replaced the floral bedspread. There was a rug under the bed to cover the cold, wooden floorboards. On a desk in the corner were all of his school papers. I walked over for a closer look.
Several papers with A's on them were tacked to the wall beside a photograph of me he had asked Esme for. She had told me about this earlier today. I felt proud to be on his wall this way. His spelling lists and several children's books were spread out across the surface of the desk. Underneath it, on the floor was a pair of his hiking boots. I picked them up to place in the closet with the rest of his things, but when I opened the door, his scent overwhelmed me. He was in dire need of a trip to the laundry, but at the moment, I didn't mind that fact.
I picked up his favorite green flannel shirt and inhaled the smell. It was heaven. All of our best memories were shared while he wore that shirt. It was the first one he put on when he woke up that third day. The one he wore the day of his first school lesson with me. The same one he wore on the hike to the creek the night we first danced, first held each other. The night we first kissed. I needed to leave his room now, or I never would be able.
I crept back into the hallway and wandered in a daze toward the living room. On the hook by the front door, I saw it. Shining in the moonlight passing through the side window. Would I dare? Could I ever do such a thing? I did. I took it and darted upstairs to my room. After throwing a few things into a bag and scribbling a note, I ran as fast as I could to the garage. I put the shiny red Phaeton into neutral and pushed it easily out of the garage and down to the road. They would never hear the engine start. After pushing the car a half-mile, I used the key I stole from the front door and the engine roared to life. It was glorious. I put the top down and I was free.
--
The sun had risen over the forest and we were still running. I had run out of things to think about. My mind was a blank slate now and that seemed to help Edward relax. "We're nearly there. The river is up ahead and the waterfall is just a few miles past that. I can smell the mountain lions all ready."
All I could smell was trees. I hadn't ever smelled a mountain lion, so I was unsure what to expect. I was a bit let down at the lack of bears on this trip. Edward said mountain lion was the best, so I trusted him. By the time we reached the top of the waterfall, I was dying of thirst. We had been running nonstop for over twenty-four hours by this point with the added weight of camping gear on our backs. Most of which I was told was unnecessary. Just props for the humans, if we should run into them by accident.
Edward had already dropped his things and was crouched in an attack position toward the east. I noticed several females in a pack resting in a clearing a fair distance away. I picked up on the smell instantly, but decided to let Edward have them. This was his idea, after all. To the west, I saw a male by himself wandering casually as if he were looking for a female to spend some time with. I crouched to the ground as Edward had, and set off after my prey. It was easier than I expected, and the taste was different. I could see why he favored this animal over the others. The blood was almost sweet.
"What do you think, Emmett?" He asked me suddenly. We were both feeling full and satisfied with our hunt, so we rested on the rocks at the top of the falls chucking pebbles over the edge.
"I still prefer grizzly. There is more of a challenge in taking down such a large animal and the saltiness of their blood is perfect. Maybe it's because they eat anything they can find. Bugs, meat, fish, grass and berries."
"Right. All mountain lions eat are other animals, so their going to taste different. I think they're the middle ground between the speed of a deer and the aggression of a grizzly." It was nice to be able to speak about things this way with Edward. He made it sound so smart and interesting. To me, it was all about the chase, capture, and eating. Over and over. It brought out a side of me that I never really explored. I was an aggressive person, deep down, but I always worried that would frighten people away. So I tried to use humor to cover it up and make myself seem more approachable.
For Edward, it seemed as though it was more about the feeling after, the relief of not feeling thirsty any longer. The calm after the storm, rather than before. "I'm going to go for a walk and explore this place a little. Is that alright?"
"Sure, just stay within hearing range. If I have to yell, you should come back right away. Don't be afraid to call for me, either if you get into trouble." We agreed on that and I set off to climb down the falls toward the bottom. Vampire strength and agility made this an unbelievably easy task. At the bottom, over one hundred feet down, there was an enormous pool of clear calm water. The sounds of my boots on the rocks had scared off the few animals that were down here drinking. As a human, I could never resist a healthy swim, so what should stop me now? I could see the bottom, the water was so clear. It couldn't be more than five feet deep, or so. I stripped down and jumped into the water, which was freezing cold. I let out a yell from the shock of it on my skin. I suppose if I were alive, my human body wouldn't be able to survive in these temperatures. I would get hypothermia in minutes and drown.
"Emmett?" I heard Edward's voice echo through the forest. "What are you doing? I hear splashing and yelling down there. Did you fall in?"
I was amazed he could pick out the sounds I was making down here over the roar of the falls between us. "I'm fine! Just going for a swim."
"Alright. Just checking."
I floated around in the water for over an hour by myself, just taking in the atmosphere. It was gorgeous here. I knew I shouldn't, but I couldn't help but think about my Angel and what she was doing at home by herself. I wished she were here with me to share this scene. Not naked, like I was, clothed of course, but the scene around me. The falls, the pool of water, and the endless amounts of prey. It had begun to get dark once again, so I left the water and found my clothes on the shore to get dressed. Edward had suggested we stay here for the night and head home in the morning after another hunt. I found my way back up the cliff and crawled into a tent to relax until the sun came up.
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The End!
Why do I like Emmett best when he's swimming naked? Lol. That's a happy mental picture right there, sweet! THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR REVIEWS AND BIRTHDAY WISHES!! KEEP EM COMING!! YAY FOR MAY BABIES!
