Edward POV
I'd come to Alaska to escape the very thing Tanya had presented. There was a girl back in Forks, who, to put it bluntly, made my life hell. She was bent on seducing me, and I seemed to hardly find a peaceful moment without her following me around at school, or else calling and texting my cell phone (that was thanks to Emmett, who had slipped Jessica my cell number without my knowledge). So I'd taken a vacation of sorts and had gone to Alaska to stay with our extended family, as it were.
Tanya seemed just as determined as Jessica, though she was much more dangerous because of the whole I-can-persue-you-forever thing. So my trip up North had been a short one, and I arrived home the day after Esme and Carlisle returned from a medical conference in New York.
I was bewildered, to say the least, at the shift in my family's attention. Well, to be fair, it was only Alice and Emmett that had seemed to go off the tangent of rational thought, Alice replaying visions of Emmett and a human girl with black hair, Emmett thinking only of that same girl. It seemed I'd missed quite a bit in the few days I'd been away.
I couldn't begrudge Emmett his happiness, though, as that was precisely what the thoughts of this girl was making him. There would of course be no realistic way that he could ever be more than schoolmates with her, but I wasn't going to be the one yet to remind him of that. He'd had little to smile about since Rosalie had left us.
In my opinion, it was the right choice for her. She clearly didn't love us enough to stay, and Emmett hadn't fulfilled her needs. I guess the right things are sometimes the hardest, though, at least on the ones left behind. But I had a strange feeling that this girl, with her dark eyes and citrus scent, might be the precise thing Emmett needed to move on.
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When I woke the next day it was to the sunlight filtering in through my window. I sat up quickly, cursing as I checked my alarm clock. It was already nine, and I flung the covers off me, prepared to eat and ready quickly, then dash out the door to run the same course as I had yesterday. As I stood from the bed, the smell from my dream last night washed over me and I sunk back down into my sheets, lifting them to my nose.
They were drenched in his- in Emmett's- scent. I cursed again, dropping the sheet and shooting away from the bed as though scalded. Of course his name wasn't Emmett, that was just another stupid part of my stupid dream. I couldn't believe I'd actually allowed myself to sink so low as to fantasize about him...about a vampire!
Clearly, I'd lost my mind. But dammit, it had been such a lovely way to lose it. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been so relaxed, felt so safe. If there was one thing I was sure of, lying in his strong arms, it was that he'd never let anything hurt me. Perhaps it was this (I tightened my jaw at the memory of his lips on my neck- that had taken the dream to beyond enjoyable levels) that had allowed me to, finally, sleep so soundly.
oooo
Emmett POV
I knew it was a mistake - hell, it was probably the stupidest thing I could have done. Not because I was vampire who was built to kill fragile humans like her (although, for real, I don't think there was one "fragile" thing about that girl, even with the night she'd had) or because I couldn't keep the thirst under control. It was because now I knew what it was like to hold her, to touch her, to smell her so damn close.
And I wanted more. Holy hell, I wanted more.
I couldn't help it. She was just so damn scared, shaking and tossing and sweating. It'd been a lifetime since I'd had a nightmare, but it wasn't that hard to recognize the signs of a really bad one. I'd wanted nothing more in those seconds that I was perched silently out her window than to crawl in and hold her, to let her know she was safe. I was here, and she should know that with me around, nothing would happen to her.
The weird part was, she did seem to know that, as soon as I pulled her into my arms. She relaxed, she was comfortable. Our bodies fit perfectly together, like we were just...made for each other. That sounds a little gay, don't think I don't know it. But it's the truth.
I liked that. That I could be there like this for her. Rose never let me, never needed me to, never wanted me to. It was nice to be the protector, for once.
I knew I'd need to see her again, to be that close again.
The best, and hardest part was, though, that I didn't feel an ounce of guilt toward Rose, wanting another woman.
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As I dressed quickly and made my way to the kitchen, the smell of bacon drifted out into the hallway. I entered the kitchen, Angela seated at the table, a plate of pancakes in front of her, the Sunday paper open and in her hands.
"Good morning Kelly," Maureen, standing over a griddle pan with a spatula, said to me. She gestured toward the table, where a place was already set for me; a tall glass of orange juice beside a heaping plate with pancakes, bacon, and hash browns. My stomach growled and I cursed myself again for oversleeping. Or cursed him for making me so...so relaxed and safe that I was able to oversleep.
"Um, Angela," I said, sitting down at my place beside her, "I was wondering..." I didn't really know how to start. I couldn't very well say "I believe I'm hallucinating and last evening a very muscular, very attractive vampire who smelt better than God was in bed with me...wouldn't happen to know his name, eh?"
Angela folded up her paper and set it beside her plate. "Yes?" She said, giving me a grin.
"You know at the airport, when you two picked me up?" She nodded. "I saw some...kids there, they looked about our age. They were in the gate next to ours."
Angela nodded again. "Oh, you mean the Cullens. Yeah, they were there, weren't they? Let's see...there was Alice, she's the petite one with short hair, she's really nice, she's in my Biology class, you'll have that with us. And of course Jasper was there...the tall blond one. He's really quiet, but overall he's nice, too. And I remember seeing Dr. and Mrs. Cullen...I think Alice mentioned something about a conference Dr. Cullen had back East."
"And the other one? He looked like a jock, and he had short brown hair." I prompted, licking my lips.
"Oh, that's right! That's Emmett."
My stomach dropped. His name really was Emmett...and Alice and Jasper went to Angela's, to my, school...
"Is he in school as well?"
Angela grinned, a slightly knowing look in her eye. "Yes, he's a senior. He's really funny and you should hear the coaches going on about him. They've been begging him since his sophomore year to play football and basketball and baseball, all those sports. But he won't, says he's saving it for college," Angela shrugged, "see, all of them - Alice and Jasper and Edward and Emmett and Rosalie - they're all Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They moved down here from Alaska the summer before my ninth grade year. Except, well...Alice and Jasper are together. I think they're engaged, Alice always wears this huge ring, you know? And...Emmett and Rosalie used to be together, but..." Angela hesitated, and I knew she was thinking of her dislike for gossiping, "Rosalie left, I don't really know the details. Emmett was pretty crushed for a while, but he's been getting a lot better lately."
My head was swimming. There was another girl? Another vampire, of course, what else would she be in that...coven? I didn't think that was the right term. They seemed more a family than anything to me, the way they acted together and the way Angela was describing them. I couldn't believe that somebody, regardless of being human or not, would leave Emmett. I'd only had one night with him, one night with him so close, and whether it was a dream or not, it was probably the best night of my life. I couldn't imagine somebody having that all the time, and then just...abandoning it. This Rosalie had a good reason, perhaps, but she sounded like a moron to me.
"Hey," Angela said, elbowing me in the ribs, "You might have a class with him, they mix the grades for math and gym."
My throat dry at that prospect, I could do nothing more than nod.
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Jasper POV
It was a pleasant change, I don't mind saying. Emmett was fierce in all aspects of his life, and though I suppose you could label him the strong and silent type more than anything, when he felt something, he did it with all of his being. So, needless to say, when those raging emotions shifted from misery and loneliness to curiosity, to protectiveness and even happiness, I welcomed them.
Emmett was always the most difficult to use my gift on, even more so than Rosalie had been. He simply didn't want any outside help, though he confessed to, once in a while, needing it. I can't tell you how often I wished, in the days and weeks after Rosalie left, that Emmett would just smile again, would just crash around the house and knock down a few trees, as was his usual way.
I often lamented what a shame it was that alcohol had no effect on us vampires. If anybody could have used a stiff drink in the past couple of months, it was surely my brother. In his human life, he often said, he was no stranger to hang-overs. I had no problem believing this. He had come from a large Irish family. Need I say any more?
I suppose I was heavily influenced by Alice. She always had a positive spin on every little thing, and she was overjoyed that finally Emmett was returning to his old self. And from what it seemed, in her visions, this girl was going to feel as strongly for Emmett as he did, and would, for her.
But still I was wary of the entire situation. After all, they don't say be careful what you wish for for nothing.
oooo
The day passed quickly, as I know time does when you're dreading something. And I was dreading Monday morning. I never particularly liked school in general, and I wasn't openly social. Angela insisted that her friends were very welcoming people, but I doubted this. They lived in a small town and weren't used to outsiders. I really had no idea as to how they'd accept me. Honestly, at the end of the day I didn't care.
Not about them, anyway.
I ached to see Emmett again, to witness that breath-taking smile and just be near him. Even if it was just in the same school building. I was still convinced that what had taken place in my bedroom had been nothing more than a fantasy. I couldn't explain how I knew his name, although I figured I must have heard it used by his family at the airport without realizing it.
I had it bad, and I didn't even actually know the guy.
The vampire.
Emmett. Was. A. Vampire.
Like the one who had taken my life away and murdered my parents and left my house empty and cold. The one who had been cruel enough to leave me alive, to give me terrifying nightmares and a constant fear for the rest of my life,
Except...I hadn't been afraid last night, and the nightmare I'd had was dissolved into blissful comfort, the cool safety of arms gentle and strong at the same time.
I didn't want to think about this right now. I stood from the couch, where I had been flipping idly through the TV channels, and told Angela I was going for a quick walk. She looked up from her spot at the kitchen table, scribbling away on some homework, and nodded, promising to tell Maureen when she got out of the shower.
I didn't know where I was going, where I should go. All I knew was that I needed to get moving, needed to get away from the house where my sheets still smelled like a forest after a rainfall, where I couldn't get him out of my head. I tied my shoes, donned my jacket, and headed out the door.
Of course, it was raining. I didn't mind it, though. Growing up on the East coast I was used to rain, and I took comfort in the familiar smell of damp asphalt as I made my way up the street. I thought vaguely of going to get something to eat, as there was a pizza parlor of sorts just a few blocks away. Not that Maureen's traditional Sunday dinner of roast hadn't filled me, of course, but I knew I'd need the carbs for tomorrow, and I seized any interest in food I could scrounge up.
I suppose, in retrospect, I should have known what was waiting for me when I walked through Pizza Oven's doors.
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