I know a few of you guys were concerned over the fact that this chapter is called "Kiss me, Emmett". So many people assume what's going to be in this chapter. A few reviewers went something like this "OMG, how can Bella cheat on Jazz like dat?" You know, for all you guys knew about this chapter, Bella could have walked in on Jasper and Emmett making out (NOT going to happen). So don't assume please. Bella has her reasons for asking Emmett and they're probably not what you think.

And I am SO sorry if my gothic comment in the last chapter offended anyone. I sincerely didn't mean to offend anyone.

Please forgive me.

Bella Whitlock

The miles passed beneath our tires quickly. We went through Georgia and then passed into Mississippi by the time that supper approached. It was already night on the interstate and the radio blared. Jasper was unusually quiet and I glanced worriedly at him a few times. His face was composed – betraying no emotion – and the sight unsettled me.

Emmett was a relief after the tension of the past week. His steady chatter distracted me from the horror of our lives and I even laughed a few times. He was carefree and so much different than Jasper that they seemed polar opposites. He told me stories about his ex girlfriends and the time he had accidentally tripped and fell into a pond of mud that was in his backyard. His voice had an attractive deep, intelligent quality that seemed to make everything he said utterly fascinating.

I had never had a male friend before and I found the experience somehow freeing. Or perhaps it was the jokes and laughter that lightened my heart. We had passed through a fast-food restaurant just minutes before and all of us had eaten on the road.

As my mind wandered, Emmett's voice faded into the background. What would we do with Emmett? How long did we intend to keep him with us? My mind was so full of unanswerable questions, so full of fatal conundrums.

"Hey, man, I'm tired," Emmett complained as we neared the Mississippi River that was only miles away. "Are we planning on stopping soon to sleep?"

"I'm sleepy too," I said quietly, turning to Jasper. I could see in the droop of his shoulders and the bloodshot nature of his usually clear eyes, that he was exhausted. He hadn't slept well at the hotel and I sensed that in a way he was afraid to close his eyes. In sleep he was vulnerable and unable to fight. Therefore he remained awake for as long as humanely possible.

"We'll stop when we get to the river," he said finally.

The rest of the ride was quiet except for the radio. Even Emmett was silent. When we eventually came to the Mississippi River and the large bridge that spanned it, he pulled the car into the parking lot of a closed grocery store. I looked over at Jasper, wishing he wouldn't be so stubborn, that he'd just sleep already.

"You can sleep first, Bella," he said quietly as Emmett curled up in the backseat. "I'll wake you up around two in the morning so you can keep watch over him and I can sleep."

"But you're so tired . . ."

"I can deal, Bella." He smiled softly. "I'll be fine, I promise. Now sleep; you'll need it."

I bit my lip as I stared at his tired face. I knew that if I continued to protest that he would simply argue with me. The pull of fatigue was too great to ignore and, against my will, my eyelids began to droop.

My nightmares were dark, terrifying things.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched Father shear off Jasper's hair to the scalp when we were both eleven because he had broken one of Father's beer bottles when he was bringing the Miller Lite to him. Jasper had tripped, the bottle crashing onto the floor. So Father had tried to rid Jasper of his beauty by making him essentially bald. I stood in the corner, crying for the locks of golden hair that fell to the floor from Father's straight razor. Father didn't care when the razor blade sliced into the gentle skin of Jasper's scalp. He almost seemed to delight in the blood that trickled from the wound. Never once did Jasper wince from the feel of the metal sinking into his flesh or at his beautiful hair falling around him.

And then Father turned to me with the razor after he locked Jasper in his room. "You are a stupid, selfish girl, Bella," he said in a calm voice that chilled my bones. "Not once did you try to save your brother from the razor. You sat crying in the corner, hoping to be spared his punishment." He sat me hard down in the chair and grabbed a fistful of my long, dark hair and yanked. I screamed at the pain and felt a stinging slap on my face in punishment.

"Please, Daddy," I whimpered.

"Now you will also be shaved bald for your selfishness. Next time you will think of others before yourself." And there was the sound of hair gently falling around me, long locks of it, and the bitter teeth of the straight razor as the blades sliced my scalp.

When he was finished, I looked as if my head had been put through a wood chipper – bloody, with long slices of open wounds and scabs beginning to crust over, stray tufts of hair sticking up where he had neglected to shave me smooth.

With a strangled, terrorized half-muffled scream, I started awake, my eyes snapping open and my hands clutching at the seat desperately. I gasped for breath, suddenly unsure of where I was, and glanced at Jasper. He sat in his seat, hand firmly around the revolver, sound asleep. It was so obvious why he didn't want to cut my hair, despite the fact that he had lied about the reason. Cutting my hair would bring back horrifying memories that neither of us wished to relive.

"Are you alright, Bella?" Emmett asked from the backseat. Surprised, I looked back at him. He sat in the middle of the backseat, his dark eyes staring at me with concern. I took a deep breath, glancing around. The dashboard clock read 1:32 and I figured that Jasper had accidentally fallen asleep since he was so tired.

"I'm fine," I muttered, swallowing hard. "Just had a nightmare." Turning my eyes back to Emmett, I shifted uncomfortably, nervous about the fact that Emmett was awake while both of us had been sleeping. Why hadn't he done something to escape?

"Would you like to talk about it?"

I stared suspiciously at him but his eyes showed only compassion and concern. It was so hard to believe that he could do anything to hurt us. Emmett was so kind and humorous. But could I trust him with my past? Jasper was the only person who understood me and knew everything we had endured together. Would Emmett be as understanding?

"Not really," I admitted. "Why are you awake?"

"I woke up about twenty minutes ago and couldn't go back to sleep," he answered. "Pardon me for asking, but what are two nice kids such as you doing on the run from the police?"

I bit my lip, knowing that Jasper wouldn't want me to tell anything to Emmett. But I desperately needed to talk to someone, to tell him that Jasper and I weren't bad people. I needed to talk to someone, to try and explain that we had done everything because we had to.

"Jasper and I ran away after Jasper accidentally stabbed our Father with the knife he was trying to use on us." I paused, gauging Emmett's reaction. I expected to see both disgust and horror etched across his features. In one sentence I had confessed that Jasper was my brother and that he had murdered our Father.

But Emmett sat, not judging. I bit my lip and tried to figure the best way to continue.

"Where is your mother?" he asked gently.

"She's dead. Mother killed herself by driving into a lake." Despite my attempts to keep my voice neutral, I heard the waver in my words. How different our life could have been if Mother still lived . . . none of this might have happened if she hadn't taken her own life. Through my entire life, I had idolized my Mother. I had created a vision of her in my dreams, a bright angel who would rescue her children if only she could come to Earth again. "Her body was never found, though her car was fished out."

"I'm so sorry, Bella," he said softly, leaning up to place his hand gently on mine. The warmth of his skin was a shock to my system, the rough calluses on his palms scraping strangely over my fingers. "She was never found?"

"No." I cleared my throat and pulled my hand away from him.

"But how could Jasper kill your Father?"

My eyes flashed to his face in fear. He was already on Father's side. He didn't see that it had to be done. But I would make him understand. My words began to flow so fast that it was difficult even for me to discern one from the other. "Father was going to make Jasper drink bleach for defending me. There was hitting and things smashing, food falling to the floor. And when Father began hurting me, Jasper got a knife from the kitchen." Tears began to soak my face as I spoke in earnest. Emmett had to understand. "Somehow Father got the knife and was going to kill Jasper. But Jasper pulled it from his hand and the next thing I remember is Father falling to the ground with blood pouring from his stomach while Jasper held the bloody knife in his hand. Don't you see, Emmett? Father would have killed Jasper if he hadn't done what he did! We only did was we had to survive. We knew that the police wouldn't understand so we packed our things and left for New York."

I stopped, gasping for breath. There was an emotion in Emmett's eyes that I had seen in the eyes of the social worker at the group home, a kind of softening that seemed awash with knowing. Pity.

"Please don't hate us," I whispered as I looked at him through pathetic tears. "Everyone else hates us. They don't understand . . ."

He gently took my hand in his as a father would a child, a true father. "I could never hate you or Jasper. You two have been through things children should never have to endure. Your Father was wrong to hurt you both as he did. I understand, Bella, and I so wish that none of this had happened." He sighed and looked down at our joined hands. "Do you truly care for your brother as a man?"

I knew what he asking – had Jasper and I made love. I noticed how he carefully kept his eyes averted and I knew he thought it was wrong.

For years I had wondered if what I felt for Jasper was wrong. I knew that he was unconcerned about morality and didn't believe our bond was sinful, yet I had doubts. I had so many doubts.

When Adam and Eve were sent forth to populate the Earth, their children had to create incestuous unions in order for that to happen. It was the only way. But that was the Biblical story and this was now. Things were different and incest was a sin. Father had told us that often enough.

"Yes, I do," I finally answered.

Emmett slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I suppose it only makes sense. You spent all those years with a Father who abused you. Amidst the fear and pain, you turned to the only one who really loved you, who understood everything." He lifted his eyes to mine. "But, Bella, it isn't right. You must distance yourself from Jasper; learn to survive on your own."

"I can't!" Fear sparked through me. "Please don't separate us. They've already done that. Jasper is the only thing I have! He's the only one that has ever cared for me and loved me. No one can possibly know what we went through. No one." A hard lump formed in my throat. Like a ball of rubber bands shoved into a sock, the lump should have been visible. But it wasn't. Only I knew it was lodged there. An engorged tear dropped down my face.

"I know, Bella, I know," he murmured, trying to soothe me.

"No you don't! You don't know." Abruptly I dissolved into quiet sobs. Emmett gently pulled me into the backseat, cradling me against his hard chest. His callused hand smoothed back my hair as I cried for the first time since Jasper and I left home.

There was no way to stop the train of events we had set in motion. I wanted to scream and hit something. Life was so utterly unfair. Had we deserved what was happening now? But regardless of whether we deserved this, there was nothing I could do to stop it. And eventually the tracks would run out and the train would crash to its death.

For a half hour, the tears came. Jasper, exhausted, still slept. Soon, however, the sobs were less frequent and I found that my supply of salt water was spent.

"Blow your nose," Emmett prompted gently, holding out a handkerchief from his pocket. I hadn't known men still carried them. Obeying, I blew my snotty nose, embarrassed at my bedraggled appearance. I hastily smoothed my hair and wiped at my face, knowing it wouldn't help. "Stop, Bella." He stilled my hands with his, his dark eyes staring deeply into mine. "You are lovely."

His words were like a balm over a wound, and I found that I wasn't uncomfortable although I didn't believe him. "How old are you, Emmett?" I asked.

He hesitated. "Twenty-eight."

My eyes roamed over his features, from the brown eyes, his straight nose, to his full lips. I had never touched anyone other than Jasper and I wondered if it would be any different when the man wasn't my brother. Emmett had acted more as a parent to me than a lover and I wished I could tell him how much that meant to me. But I couldn't find the words. I wanted to know if all kisses ignited my body with fire and if Emmett's mouth could possibly be as soft as Jasper's.

"Kiss me, Emmett," I whispered, looking straight into his eyes. In that moment, I simply wanted to forget everything, to have a distraction from Hell.

His hand brushed a lock of hair back from my face. Emmett's large hands cupped my face softly and pulled his mouth to mine. Our lips touched with the lightest of pressure. This kiss was nothing like the one I had shared with Jasper so long ago. It was simply the joining of two mouths, as simple as a pen to paper. I felt strangely cheated, as if I had expected to feel the heat and butterflies I experienced when Jasper's lips had pressed to mine that one time. Then he pulled away and smiled slightly.

"No fireworks, huh?"

Despite myself, I smiled back. Emmett had a healing presence that set my soul at ease. I felt nothing more for him than the deepest of gratitude for understanding and the wish that he was our father. "No fireworks," I agreed.

"You better get back in the front seat before Jasper wakes up," he said, moving away.

I nodded and climbed into the passenger's side front seat.

"I'm glad he's getting some sleep," Emmett said, gesturing to Jasper. "I know why he's so distrustful of me. He's terrified that I will somehow separate you two." He paused. "Jasper's only reason for existence is you. Although he is more skilled at keeping his thoughts from his face, he doesn't take as much care with his emotions. If you were to be killed, Bella, he would find someway to take his own life." Emmett's eyes turned up to mine. "I cannot believe that any love this strong can be wrong."

"Thank you," I whispered, looking over at my brother. Emmett politely averted his eyes as I crawled over the middle console and into Jasper's lap.

"You two need some kind of protection," Emmett murmured then and I ignored his comment. "And I don't mean condoms."

As if it was the simplest of gestures, Jasper's arms went softly around me. Here was the reassuring warmth I had known my entire life, here was where I wanted to be when breath left my body for the last time. I stared up into Jasper's face, serene in sleep, and touched my lips to his chest.

Only once did I look back on Emmett. He was asleep on the backseat, yet he could have slipped out any time after that one glance. I didn't want to turn my eyes from Jasper. Somehow, I felt that there was something terrible looming on the horizon, something that neither of us could postpone. There was only so much time that we had with each other until it happened – that tragedy that was approaching

And it was advancing fast.

I think that this was my favorite chapter so far, but that's just me. I listened to a REALLY sad song while writing this and darned if I wasn't near crying. lol. There was so much in this chapter, lots of angst and tears, yet also Sweet Emmett, which I love. As I said before, Emmett is much deeper of a character than people usually make him. So, this was a Emmett chapter, chapter 14 will be a Jasper chapter, definitely. :D hope everyone likes it!

Please review? Please? Pretty pretty please with Jasper, Edward, Emmett, AND Carlisle on top??? *winks*

-Oriana