Hello again my lovelies. I know this is meant to be Emmett's POV and I was going to wait until later in the week to post this, but Edward just wouldn't shut up. He needed to get his story out there.

This chapter is a little angsty, but I promise this is the only chapter that's going to contain it.

Normal disclaimers apply.


EPOV

I lie awake most of the night listening to Bella breathing. A little creepy I know, but after years of experience putting an alcoholic to bed and making sure they don't die in their sleep, staying awake was easy.

It was also amusing.

Bella is a sleep talker and my name came up more than once. The first time she said it I thought she had woken and answered her, receiving a soft snore in response. Most of what she said was incoherent babble and I had to stop myself from waking her with my laughter when she exclaimed in a sad voice 'the petunias are wilting.'

I did eventually drift off for a while, but jolted awake when I felt Bella slip from my arms.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I was just getting the water you left out for me. Go back to sleep." She chugged half of the glass and took the pills I had set on her nightstand before curling back up against me. I wrapped my arm around her waist and settled down to sleep once more.

We both woke much later when the sun was high in the sky. I never sleep this late. Ever.

I feigned sleep as Bella sat on the edge of the bed and stretched her arms high over her head. I watched her through my barely open eyelids. Her short hair was matted to her head on one side and stuck out in all directions on the other. Despite her dishevelled appearance she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. She turned around and her eyes roamed my form. I shifted and pretended to wake up, making her squeak and scramble from the bed. I grinned to myself as she hot-tailed it into her ensuite bathroom, closing the door behind her.

I sat up and rest against her headboard, patiently waiting for Bella to re-emerge. I didn't have to wait long. The toilet flushed and I could hear the buzz of an electric toothbrush in action. She stepped out a few minutes later, her face washed and free from last nights tear tracks. Half of her hair was pulled up into a little bun on top of her head with a few loose tendrils framing her face.

"Morning." She smiled sheepishly, walking over to the bed and climbing on.

"Good morning, or at least what's left of it. How are you feeling?"

"Surprisingly alright actually. Thank you for taking such good care of me. I appreciate it. I'd probably still be out on the front lawn if it wasn't for you." She said, mirroring my position.

"You're very welcome. Like I said, I care about you and would hate to see you get hurt."

"Can I ask you something?" She said, glancing at me and biting her lip.

"Of course."

"Last night, did I really yell out in the street that I'm not waxing my..." She trailed off and motioned to her privates.

"I chuckled at her sudden bout of shyness. "Yes. Yes you did." I grinned.

"Oh god!" She covered her face with her hands and shook her head.

I pried her hands away from her face and she peered up at me. Her brown eyes shining bright against her flushed skin. "Don't hide. It wasn't that bad. You probably gave Mr Bolton a fright, but I'm sure he's forgotten all about it by now."

She laughed alongside me for a while before she decided to ask me something I wasn't prepared for. "What did you mean last night when you said you lost someone to the effects of alcohol?"

"Exactly what I said Bella." I replied, sitting up and swinging my legs off of the bed. I hunched my shoulders and ran my hands through my hair, sighing. I was mad at myself for snapping at her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She said quietly. "I shouldn't have been so nosy."

"No one knows Bella, except for Em. He was there too for the most part." I felt the bed shift behind me before her warm hand came into contact with my back. Despite it being through the layer of my t-shirt, her touch seemed to calm and centre me and I was able to draw strength from that. I took a deep breath and began.

"It was my mom. My dad walked out on us when I was a kid, leaving the three of us alone. At the time I didn't think it had anything to do with my mom's behaviour. I thought it was mine. I tried to be the best behaved kid no matter what and maybe he would come back to us. I always assumed my mom was just a fun, crazy parent that liked acting silly with me. I didn't realise it was because she was always drunk. Dad's a doctor and he tried countless times to get her help until he couldn't take it any more. Suddenly it was just me, my mom and my older brother. I was a young boy and I had to grow up very quickly. I had to become the parent. I would make sure there was food in the cupboards, although I couldn't cook for shit, the laundry was done and the bills were paid. I stayed up at night to make sure she wasn't going to choke on her own vomit. It was torture Bella. Not knowing if when I woke in the morning she would too. No kid should have to go through that.
I was always brought up to be nice to your neighbour because you never know when you'll need them in an emergency, and thank god I did. With my brother away at college, I missed the signs when mom started to become unwell, not that she would have visited the doctor anyway. I just thought that her sleepiness, confusion and vomiting was due to her being drunk again. My neighbour Mrs Montgomery looked after me when mom was too intoxicated to even pick herself up off of the floor. She also let me stay with her more than once when mom would throw me out in a drunken rage, or I just needed space from her. She helped keep me sane. In return I would mow her lawn and help her tend her garden. She taught me everything I know about plants and how to care for them. Her husband taught me how to do the 'manly' things like how to shave without cutting myself and how to use power tools. It was them that noticed mom was sick. They had brought some casserole round for us and saw that mom's skin had turned yellow due to jaundice. They called the doctor but it too late. Mom was in full blown liver failure due to drinking. The docs told her to stop, but she refused to give up the booze. Three weeks later she was gone. I was seventeen and basically alone.
Dad came back for the funeral with Emmett in tow. We had a massive argument at the side of moms grave and he apologised for walking out on us all those years ago. He explained that he couldn't just stand by and watch someone he loved slowly kill themselves because their need for drink was greater than their will to live. We patched things up, although I was angry at him for so long. He explained that he was the one putting money in mom's bank account so we could afford to pay the rent and utilities. It never crossed my mind until then that that was where the money was coming from, as mom never went out to work. He also informed my brother and me that we each had a trust fund set up in our names that we could access when we were twenty one. He helped me clear out our apartment and I moved in with him and his then girlfriend, Esme. She became the mother I always needed but never knew I wanted. Dad put me through college where I earned my degree in business with a minor in botany. When I came of age for my trust fund I used it to set up my own floristry company, and to say thank you to the Montgomery's for all that they did for me over the years I paid off the remainder of their mortgage for them. To this day they're still living there.
That was ten years ago. For so long I refused to leave Chicago because I didn't want to lose the memories I had there of my mother. Emmett convinced me to finally leave the state behind and come here. Dad and Esme moved out here while I was at college and Emmett got the job at the restaurant, so I had no choice but to come along. It's been for the best. I reconnected with Alice and met Jasper. Bought this amazing house and met you."

All the while I was talking Bella never said a word but continued to rub my back in comfort. I turned to face her and was startled to see she had tears running down her face. "Hey, please don't cry." I said, brushing my thumbs under her eyes. "Telling you has actually helped me. I feel like a weight has been lifted."

Bella flings herself into my arms and sobs into my shoulder. I hold her tight while she lets it all out. I couldn't help but shake my head at the situation. I told her my depressing life story yet she's the one bawling. It took a few minutes but she finally calmed down enough to draw back from my embrace. "I'm so sorry all of that happened to you Edward. You're right, no kid should have to go through that." She wiped her eyes and sniffed, before her brows furrowed and she looked up at me. "You have a brother?"

I worried for her state of mind. Did she knock her head when she fell in the grass last night? "You know I do Bella. You've hung out with him enough."

"I have? Who?"

Now I was really worried. Maybe she was concussed. I reached for her forehead but she didn't feel warm. I gave her a quizzical look as understanding slowly dawned on her face.

"Oh. Oh no." Her face turned bright red and she covered it with her hands. "I'm such a fucking idiot."

"Bella?"

"Emmett isn't your husband, is he?"

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing at her question. That was the most absurd thing I had ever heard and also slightly nauseating too. "No Bella. I'm not married at all, and least of all to my big brother."

"Oh my god. I'm so mortified." She ducked her head down and shook it, refusing to move her hands away from her face. "I've been telling everyone you're this adorable married gay couple."

I bit my lips to keep from laughing more. As crazy as her assumption was, I can sort of see where she is coming from. Emmett and I look nothing alike. He looks like a bulkier version of our dad, while I got our mom's colouring. I thought back to our very first meeting and realised we never introduced ourselves as brothers. No wonder she got confused.

"Bella, please look at me." She peeked at me from between her fingers, and I couldn't help but smile at her. She was adorable. I cupped her cheeks and tilted her face up towards mine. "Even though you thought I was gay for the past six months, I would love to take you out on a date, if you'll let me?" I ask, cradling her face in my hands.

"I'd like that." She squeaked.

"Good, because I'm going to kiss you now." I said, before my lips descended down to hers.


At last! Bella is finally on the same page as everyone else!

Edward's back story is a little sad but he's grown from it and he's so much closer to his brother because of it. And before people start questioning why Edward and Emmett drink if their mom was such a bad alcoholic, it will be addressed in the next chapter. Also it will be their date ;)

Much love x