Conversations

Chapter 4

Emmett

The next day, Emmett persuaded Seth and I into participating in a 'play-fight' in the Cullens' backyard. Edward was going to join to make us an even four. Bella came out to watch us and so did Esme. Rosalie stayed inside with Renesmee. Not only did no one want the baby to see anyone fighting— especially not me and Edward— Rosalie was bored of watching her husband fight. He did it so much with Jasper and Edward, and even Carlisle over the years, that it was just old news for her by now, even if this fight involved us wolves.

Seth of course was pumped to flex his skills. He phased for fun now that there was no danger, going on runs with me, just exploring on his own, or play fighting with his brothers. I was excited too; I wanted to see what Emmett was going to throw down. I assumed I'd be going up against him because our sizes matched up, but once we were phased and out in the yard, Emmett announced he'd be fighting Seth, and I'd be matched up with Edward.

My large lupine eye rolled toward him, and Edward met my gaze steadily, a challenge in his eyes and stance.

"Come on, Jake," he goaded me as I hesitated. "Come at me."

"Edward!" Bella admonished. I didn't look at her. I didn't want to be the first to look away.

Edward ignored her too. "I know you want to," he pressed. "And I want you to."

His confidence rattled my nerves, because I knew he would see my every move before I made it and counter just before I could execute. I'd have to be very instinctual, not think about it. He smiled at me innocently. It was a bit too much, phony-looking. He scaled it back a little and he looked more normal. Hmm, I guess I was getting under his skin too. He was trying too hard. I suddenly felt better about 'mock' fighting with him. Edward could easily falter.

Both of us were willing participants, but neither of us seemed to want to start the fight. We faced each other, snarled and circled, but neither of us did anything to initiate. I wondered how long he could wait until I finally caved. I could do this for hours.

Edward didn't like that plan I guess because he sprung at me. I thought of running straight at him and acted on it, but the way my paws left the ground changed my trajectory in such a way that I flew just past him, landing a swipe at his arm as I passed. When I landed, I turned back toward him. He was pretty pissed. Emmett could hardly keep from laughing as he dodged Seth's lunge. "Dude! He got you! You didn't see it coming!" Edward huffed and folded his arms, looking indignant.

To be fair, I did think that I was going to go straight at him. Even I was surprised I didn't make head-on contact with him.

Edward could hear my thoughts, but he didn't try to explain what happened to Emmett. Emmett must have been thinking something at him that made him more angry, because he growled, "This is over," slicing the air with his hand in Emmett's direction. Then he stormed off, Bella rushing to follow him. Esme frowned disapprovingly and turned to follow the agitated couple inside.

Emmett scoffed under his breath when Esme closed the door. "Of course she'd take his side. Golden boy," he muttered.

Just like that, it was just Emmett, Seth and I. Seth had to go home anyway, so this was a perfect time to have a chat with Emmett. When opportunity knocks, you open the door, right? I had a feeling this was going to be interesting.

You go ahead, Seth thought. I gotta go see mom and Leah before she leaves for college soon anyway.

I'll be by too, just give me a couple of hours.

Cool.

Seth took off into the woods, leaving Emmett dumbstruck. "Where's he going?"

There was no way for me to answer him unless I was human, so I phased. I didn't intend to be human for long, so I didn't bother with the shorts, I just stayed bent down to cover myself. "To see Leah before she leaves. I'm going too, but first I thought we could hunt some bears."

His face lit up like a kid in a candy store— starstruck eyes, wide, toothy grin, the works. "I'm in, bro."

I smiled and phased back to my wolf, and we took off running north. We were a good ways away from Forks, almost to Canada before Emmett slowed, and I took that as a cue he wanted to talk. I slowed to a stop before phasing, but he could stop on a dime, so he was several yards back from where I ended up stopping. When I looked up from pulling on my shorts, the space in front of me was vacant and Emmett was still yards away. There was a rush of wind and suddenly, Emmett Cullen filled my vision. I staggered back in surprise, but caught hold of myself pretty quick. Emmett snickered as he smiled at me, pleased that he caught me by surprise with his vampy-ness.

"So... we're mad far from the house now, bro. We're not really looking for bears, are we? Jasper told me about yesterday… You want to talk about Eddie boy?"

"We can still go find bears. But yeah, I did want to find out a little bit about Edward. Obviously, we were never friends...before, but now that we're stuck with each other, I should probably get to know him a little bit."

Emmett chortled. "I feel sorry for you, brah, you inherited a killjoy! That arrogant, emo son of a bitch is about as opposite from you as anyone could possibly be. That boy does NOT know how to have fun. You like that little curveball I threw at you guys? Making you fight each other?"

I shrugged. "You planned that?"

"Well, yeah, of course. Eddie knew it, obviously. Guess he wanted to throw down with you too."

"Well, I was more than ready to take him on."

"Of course! We all want to take down the all-knowing Edward. And you did! Bravo, dude, seriously."

I smiled. Defeating Edward was something to be proud of, simply because it was so rarely done. "So, what did you think at him anyway? After the fight."

"Oh, I was just ragging on him, the usual. You know, about being thwarted. That never happens to him. You really rattled his cage." Emmett gave a hearty laugh. "He expects that from me, the joking and levity. They all do. They're all kind of morose; they have sad stories, some long past, some more recently past. And they all wish they were human again. I don't get that part. I had a decent human life, but damned if being a vampire isn't incredible! And I get to have an intelligent, resourceful, fucking beautiful woman by my side? Like, I'm sorry if it's wrong, but I am happy with my existence."

What could I say to that? Being a bloodsucking creature wasn't at the top of my list of ways to spend my life, but if it was Emmett's dream, more power to him.

"I will say that the holier-than-thou attitude has cooled down a little since Bella came along. But Edward's still a stick in the mud and always will be. And I will always, always pester him. He needs to loosen up. Sometimes he taunts me back. I love when he does that." He smiled to himself in a kind of 'brotherly love' way, probably remembering some occasion where they'd teased each other.

"He can't be that bad, can he?" I thought about what I'd learned from Carlisle, Alice, and Jasper already. It seemed to me that Edward's outward behavior was a mask to hide some seriously depressing realities he thought he would be stuck dealing with for eternity. I could understand his perpetual state of melancholy.

"He thinks because he's well-read and multi-talented and he can hear everyone's thoughts, that makes him powerful. What it really makes him is a frustrated teenager who can't sleep and can't bust a nut, so he had to find other ways to fill all that free time he could have spent doing the nasty."

Emmett grinned while I blanched a little at his casually derisive language. I wondered what kind of life he had before becoming a vampire, considering how comfortable he was with being so blatant about personal things.

Emmett chuckled at my reaction. I guess I hadn't hidden it well, and he seemed to get some kind of pleasure out of embarrassing me. He continued, "Aw, Jake, lighten up a little. Edward can be a real pain in the ass, but he's still my little bro."

"Isn't he older than you?"

Emmett shrugged. "Yes and no. He's frozen younger but he's been a vampire longer."

"So... he raised you then, right?"

He sobered a little, his brow knitting together. "I don't know about 'raised,' but he helped me learn the ropes, yeah. He was the fastest out of all of them, so he's the one that stopped me whenever I got a whiff of humans in the early days. Got injured every time though," Emmett boasted proudly, flexing his arms. "Tough break going up against these guns."

I gave him a half smile, but inside, I actually was annoyed by his bragging. Edward was his older brother who had probably given his all to guide newborn Emmett in learning his new life, but Emmett seemed to lack the respect he probably should have for his brother, especially if Edward risked life and limb to stop the brute from making mistakes. My own respect for Edward was growing by the minute. "He was the first, right? So I guess he raised all of you."

"Can you stop saying 'raised'? You make me sound like a kid. At least I'm full grown, unlike Eddie boy. But yeah, I guess he helped us all learn Carlisle's ways - Esme, Rosalie, and me. The all-knowing mind-reading thing helped him keep us in line. But that's the thing, bro. He knew how important he was to the coven's success, and it went straight to his head, blowing it up like a balloon. With no one around for him to pork, I guess he had to have something to feel good about. He had to compensate for his eternal youth somehow."

"Damn, Emmett, is sex the only thing that's important to you?" I wondered what he must think of me. I didn't have a lot of experience with girls, and now that I'd imprinted on Renesmee, I wouldn't for a long time to come.

"Duh, Jacob. Sex makes the world go 'round, don't you know? It's like the most primal drive besides eating, or drinking in my case. Vampires can do it all night and not get tired. It's a huge perk, one that good old Edward never got into. Rosalie and I thought he must be gay for the longest. Our cousin Tanya would practically throw herself at him whenever we'd visit them, but he never went for it. And that chick is hot! And a succubus!" Emmett shook his head, still in disbelief after all these years. I thought back to my conversation with Alice and Jasper the day before, and how they'd told me his mind-reading prevented him from letting go with another person. I was about to defend Edward, but Emmett cut me off. "Whatever, Edward's panties are always in a bunch. I bet he couldn't let go of his hang-ups enough to even get it up."

I rolled my eyes, realizing Emmett wasn't going to be talked out of what he thought of Edward. From what I understood, vampires didn't really change; he'd probably never think of Edward any other way.

"Anyway, we were all shocked he finally fell for a girl. I was beginning to think he was totally asexual. Not that he could get down with Bella, not really. Too breakable."

"And yet, he did it anyway," I bristled, still upset he'd taken that chance, even if it had ended up working out for them, and for me.

"Yeah, you were about ready to tear him a new one when you found out about the honeymoon, I remember. I can't believe Bella told you about that. They're such prudes, I'm shocked either of them mustered up the courage to utter the words."

"Of course I was pissed. He could have killed her."

"Yeah, he could have. But I know Edward. He has the best control of anyone. Arguably better than Carlisle. And he loved her so much. The possibility of him hurting her was slim to none. We all knew she'd be okay. Besides, Alice saw she'd be fine."

"Well, Alice can be wrong, and Edward knows it, but it seems like he wanted to be with her enough to still risk her life."

Emmett guffawed. "Is that what you think?" He attempted to control his amusement at my increasing ire, unsuccessfully. "Nah, bro. It was an ultimatum from her! Bella fully coerced that boy into sleeping with her." He shook his head at the disbelief on my face, insisting, "Edward did not want to have sex with her. He was adamantly against it, and repeatedly refused her advances, which were frequent. It was hard for him. I mean, of course he wanted to give it to her! But he never did it before, and he didn't know enough how he'd react to feel confident he wouldn't crush her to death or drink her dry. And he was right about that. I honestly don't know how he accomplished it in any way that was good for him. The control that would take...does not sound fun. But it probably was good for him. Being a virgin and all."

My jaw dropped. I was a virgin, but I was still young. "Bella was his first? Isn't he like, a hundred?"

Emmett didn't laugh like I expected him to. "You could look at it that way. Or maybe he's forever seventeen. But even a seventeen-year-old would have gotten busy before Edward finally got laid. I think it's the mind thing, ya know? Like sometimes in bed with Rose, I'll think about a part of her body that I like but she doesn't. It would put her off if she knew, but it turns me on, so I think about it. Edward would know every thought his lover had, good and bad. I know I wouldn't want my lady criticizing my technique in her mind."

"That would kinda kill the mood."

We laughed together. "Anyway, I get why Edward didn't want anyone whose mind he could read. Their minds always put him off in some way long before anything beyond flirtation could happen. It was never what they did or how they looked, it was what they thought that made him disinterested. So, I get why a silent mind would be something he'd want.

"I didn't really make the connection between the lack of sex and his so-called 'gift' for a long time. I teased him mercilessly, sent him mental pictures of fantasies, and sometimes I just can't help but think about Rosie. I feel bad about how I acted now though, now that I connected the dots. I always thought Edward was a good guy, but he was always sort of tortured. I thought if I needled him enough, it would prompt him to have a one-nighter with Tanya or something— cuz that chick was willing and getting laid would have done wonders for his psyche— but nope. It just pissed him off."

"Seems kind of mean."

Emmett looked contrite. "Yeah, and I regret that. But aren't we all mean sometimes?" When I didn't answer, he moved the conversation on. "There aren't a lot of vampires out there. New ones aren't made that often, so as time went on, and we met more and more of our kind, it seemed less and less likely he'd ever find anybody to suit him. And he knew we all felt that way too, and he hated our pity." He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Edward hears everything. Every thought that you'd never say but can't help thinking. It definitely causes strain sometimes."

I usually tried not to think too hard about Edward's gift. I didn't like that he could see so much, that he knew aspects of me I probably didn't even realize he knew! With fleeting thoughts and so many encounters with him, he probably knew my whole life story. And I knew nothing about his. But that's why I was here. It appeared that no one in his family enjoyed it either, nor Edward himself. It seemed like more of a curse than a gift.

Emmett could tell I'd been thinking, and stayed quiet until I looked up at him again. "Then along comes Bella finally, and he can't hear her mind. What a relief for him. Lucky Bella's pretty, right? But it wouldn't matter even if she were ugly, because I think he would have jumped at anyone whose mind was silent to him. That's what he needs. He needs his own thoughts as well as companionship."

It seemed like Emmett understood his brother better than he let on. Then he surprised me even more. "I can't tell you how awesome it is to see him this way, dropping all his facades and defenses and just being who he was always supposed to be. I'm super happy for him. And Bella's the shit, brah. Yeah, she beat me at wrestling and I'm still butt hurt about that. But seriously, she's chill and down-to-earth. This house needs a woman like that. It feels more modern. We're all fucking old."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "You knew my great-grandfather, right?"

"I mean, I didn't know him. I met him. In the woods, then the next day at the treaty signing. You resemble Ephraim, actually."

"That's so weird."

"I know."

"When the hell are you from anyway, Emmett?"

"Them there Cullens happened upon me in the mountains of Tennessee," he drawled, doing a terrible parody of a redneck accent. "I reckon I was a hillbilly type— gamblin' and drinkin' and cursin' and womanizin' my life away during the ol' Depression."

We laughed together at his caricature, then we fell into a silence, both thinking to ourselves. His whole devil-may-care, lust for life attitude made sense now. He was from the mountains of Tennessee during the Depression? Life was probably hell back then. And yet, he found ways to enjoy his human life while he was living it, and now he fully embraced the joys of his second life. His joy with this life was because he got everything he ever wanted in his human life and more.

Emmett broke the silence with a smirk. "So, did that satisfy your hard-on for knowledge about Eddie's sex life?"

My face twisted in horror. "Dear God!" I cried. "That's not what I thought I'd be learning about when I brought you out here, by the way."

He laughed. "What did you think I was going to tell you about?"

"I dunno...hunting?"

"Booooring," he droned. "Don't you know, Jacob? I'm all about sex. You got a sex question? I'm your guy."

"Right...okay...er, thanks, Emmett."

"Any time, man. Come on, Jake, let's go catch some bears."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N:

Hmm, the Emmett that came out of me is kind of a jerk. Sorry guys! Lol.

Emmett injuring Edward while he was a newborn is a reference to a fantastic fic written by Jessica314. It's called Tale of Years: 1935 and it is part of a series that explores the origins of the Cullen family through Edward's POV. It is excellent reading, and I fully take her work as canon! You should definitely give it a read.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. This chapter was a tough one to write. Hope you all enjoyed it! Three more chapters to go until the end.