I do not own Twilight.

Hi…sorry for not updating, please don't hate me. Here's a few chapters that I think will make up for it ;)

Emmett is sitting outside of my mom and Charlie's house when I eventually get home. It's late, and no one else is home. I smile when he sees me, walking up to him cautiously. He looks tired, but better than I've seen him recently. He has what we all do now: hope.

"Not that I don't want you here, but why…" I start off, keeping the easy smile on my face so as not to offend him. Of course, Emmett is hard to offend.

"Your dad was giving me…advice," he says. "Thought I'd wait around to see you before I head out."

"About Edward getting out?"

"Yeah." Emmett sighs and stands up from the front steps, moving closer to me. "I don't know what to expect…what he's going to expect. He'll be on parole, so he can't go home. He'll have to stay with me."

I nod, but I'm sure he can see the relief written all through my expression. Edward hadn't wanted to talk much about getting out, but I didn't want him staying with his father. "You think he'll have a problem with that?"

"Edward has a problem with a lot of things, but staying away from our dad isn't one of them." Emmett smirks, but his smile quickly drops. "He knows he won't be able to go home."

"Did you tell him he has to stay with you?" Emmett only lives in Port Angeles; he's relatively close.

"Not yet," he says. "I never got the chance. I'll tell him when I pick him up next week. Honestly, I don't think he'll care where he goes as long as…" He trails off, looks at me apologetically and I know what he's getting at.

"It's okay." I smile hesitantly. "We're…together."

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "You are."

My smile widens, "Yeah."

"Thank God, Bella. I don't think I could stand listening to him whine about you for six months." He's grinning, so I know he's joking around and it feels good to hear him like this, the same Emmett I met when I first started dating Edward.

"What's his parole?" I ask, shaking my head at his banter, laughing a little.

"Charlie said he'll probably have to do a few months of anger management classes for obvious reasons. No alcohol, drugs, weapons. He'll have to submit to drug tests whenever asked. Frowns. He can't leave the state, Bella."

This news shouldn't surprise me, but it still does.

"What about Montana?"

Emmett shrugs. "He lost his scholarship anyways. He's such a…" He sighs, shakes head and looks at me instead of finishing. "We'll figure something out, Bella. We always do."

"When is he out? Edward didn't tell me."

"Monday."

My heart jumps. Four days? That's it?

"Look, I was going to take him out to dinner or something, but I understand if you want to be with him. You can come with me to pick him up," Emmett offers, but I shake my head quickly, quelling the rising tension within me.

"No, I-I have exams that day. I wouldn't be able to get to your apartment until late at night. But—Emmett, do you think I should even visit the day he's out? I mean, won't he be…I don't know…different? He'll want to adjust, I think."

He scoffs and looks at me incredulously. "Bella, if you're trying to trick yourself into believing that kid wouldn't drive straight to your school the minute he's out, you're a fool. It's going to be difficult, but if you want to be together, you're going to have to work through it. And you can't do that by avoiding each other."

I choke up, not saying anything, so Emmett continues.

"I know it's a lot to handle, but just think about how he'll feel when he's out. He's going to want to find some shred of normalcy and he's going to have to do that in a new house with new rules placed on him by the state. If you want him to be a part of your life, you're going to have to figure out how to be together again. "

I let out a breath to calm myself. "You're right," I whisper. "Tell him I'll be at your apartment by nine." I can feel my face crumbling. "I wish I could be there to pick him up, Em."

He's already shaking his head and a slow grin spreads over his face. "He'd kill us both if he found out you skipped finals to get him. You'll have all summer. You'll have time."

I could only hope time would be enough.