I wanna hide the truth, I wanna shelter you

this is my kingdom come...

"So," I said, turning to Angela, who was gazing into the fire, "Edward, huh?"

She smiled, blinking, and nodded. "That obvious, am I?"

"Ah well, no more than me."

She laughed. "Well, that's true enough. The only one more tripping over themselves around here is Emmett."

I shook my head. "I don't know about that. I'm not quite sure what, exactly, he wants. But we're having a good time...I like him. So I guess that's all that matters."

"I think it's more than that. He's been so sad, so depressed for the last few months...I wondered if he'd ever be happy again. But you, Kel, you've brought back the old Emmett."

"Do you know them well, then?"

Angela shook her head slowly. "Not as well as I'd like. Sometimes Alice eats lunch with me, and I have a few classes with both her and Edward- Edward and I have been paired on a few projects before, but we always just did our work in class and never took it home with us. Emmett has always been nice, of course, and he's really fun in gym if you get him on your dodge ball team. Rosalie..." Angela glanced uneasily at me, "she wasn't...the most approachable person. I think a lot of people, well, they didn't try to understand her. Or any of the Cullens, actually, which I think is awful because they're obviously amazing people."

I nodded vehemently. I couldn't argue that.

"So this chick just like, showed up out of the blue? I thought they were family?" I stood and turned to look out the front windows of the book store- Emmett and Edward were in deep conversation with a girl, (Tanya, Angela explained) who was clearly a vampire as well. Angela said Tanya was from Alaska, where Esme's sister lived. If they were indeed family to the Cullens, then most likely this girl followed the Cullens diet. At least, Angela hadn't said anything about glowing red eyes, something I'm sure would've caught her attention.

But what was taking so long? And why not bring Tanya in and introduce us? Emmett and Edward had not been shy about Angela and I meeting Jasper and Esme and Carlisle, so why would they be about a distant cousin?

Edward lifted his head and looked over, our eyes meeting through the glass. He said something to Emmett, who had his back to the store, but I saw Emmett visibly stiffen and Tanya glanced over at me with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Well I gather she was on her way to Forks, or probably was. She didn't say much to me. I don't think she liked me very much, actually."

Taking in the way Tanya kept looking up at Edward and how she kept moving closer to him, I gathered exactly why she wouldn't be very kind to Angela. "Family" was a loose term, I was sure, and Tanya and Edward had no real biological or legal relation.

A second later, Edward came through the doors. "Ready to head home? It's getting rather late." He checked his watch.

Angela nodded, and I could tell she was trying to fight a smile now that Edward was back inside. She pulled on her gloves and zipped her coat while I did the same. "Ready, Kelly?" She asked, though I'm sure she wasn't listening for my answer- Edward had taken her lightly by the hand and was pulling her from the shop.

Outside by the Vanquish, Emmett and Tanya weren't anywhere to be seen. They'd disappeared in a flash as I looked back at Angela during our conversation, and immediately I wondered if anything were wrong. I caught up with Edward and Angela, tugging on Edward's sleeve.

"Emmett is...?"

Edward helped Angela into the car, which had been started already- I could hear the music and feel the heat from it before he shut the passenger door. Then he turned to me, placing a hand on my elbow. "He's with Tanya. It's...family stuff. I'm sorry, I can't give you more explanation than that. He's asked me to make sure you get home safely."

Disappointment crept up my spine. I'd been looking forward to the drive home, Emmett next to me again, his smile just a glance away. But I understood family drama, and there was probably a whole new degree of dysfunction added to life when you were a vampire. Besides, Emmett and I were hardly close enough that he'd confide in me and even less where I'd earned the right to the indignation that he hadn't. I'd see him...at school tomorrow? I quizzically looked at Edward, who gave a noncommittal shrug as he opened the back passenger door for me.

oooo

Emmett POV

Through the trees I saw Kelly give one last look around the parking lot, then get in the car. Edward shut the door after her. Our eyes met and he gave a curt nod before getting into the car himself.

"See? She's perfectly safe. Honestly, look at you, carrying on like this! Like some common human." Tanya shook her head, tossing her blonde curls over her shoulder.

"Say what you have to say and get lost." I muttered, facing her with my arms folded across my chest. I'd never been that fond of Tanya, she'd always been the bitchiest of everybody in Denali, and despite the life she led, she wasn't all that fond of humans. Not that it mattered- she was smart enough to never go against Elezar and Carlisle. She might prefer human blood, but she preferred her comfortable life with the protection our families offered even more.

"Ouch. Touchy, are we? Well, I just thought you should know...I think Rosie is cracking up. I mean, the way she was talking! She's hell bent on becoming a mother. Granted, she'd be a good one, but I suppose I just don't understand where she's coming from."

Rosie...that's what I used to call her, what I'd breathe heavily into her ear in the middle of the night, with her skin sliding against mine, and she'd moan for me, beg for me, and I was always too happy to give her what she wanted...

I shook my head to clear it. Rosalie was gone, and I needed to accept that. Dwelling on the past only hurt me, and Alice had said it all before- if Rosalie truly loved me, I would've been enough. She never would've ever thought about leaving. And once she was gone, Alice had said, we all knew she wasn't coming back.

"She left me."

Tanya held her hands up. "So? People leave sometimes, Emmett. But they can always come back. Is time really an issue for either of you? Don't you love her?"

My throat tightened. Did I? Did I still love her, still want her? She'd abandoned me, chose something else, wanted something else. I'd had months without her, to gain my footing again, and my life hadn't ended. I wasn't a zombie anymore, I wasn't weak and fragile, not like when she first walked away.

"I think your hesitation says it all. You just don't know, do you Emmett? You don't know if you want her back, and you don't know if you want that human. Oh sure, you want her blood; who doesn't? But does she mean to you what Rosie used to? How could she ever come close? Decades you had with her, and how long have you had with this girl? Who, might I say, is no great beauty- or even a beauty at all. Quite the bottom of the barrel, if you ask me."

"I'm not." I growled, and Tanya, with a satisfied smirk on her face, lifted her hands in surrender.

"My apologies, then. Well, I'd better be along, hadn't I? My sisters will wonder where I've gone- I was only supposed to go out hunting, you know. Although..." Tanya eyes darkened, "I have been in the market for something more...ah, satisfying, than our usual fare. Anything in Forks catch your fancy, lately? I'm simply famished."

I took a menacing step toward her, but Tanya, like Alice, possessed a litheness I'd never been able to match. "Ah, you do always provide good entertainment, don't you? Forget it- I have higher standards than your little orphan. Goodbye, Emmett. Give my love to Carlisle and Esme, won't you? Perhaps we'll meet again- sooner than you think." And she was gone, silence left in her wake.

I turned back to where the car had been, where Kelly had been. Knowing the she was no longer within my reach made me feel as empty as the parking lot was.

oooo

I left Edward and Angela on the porch, slamming the front door shut. Marlene was at yoga, and had left a note that she'd be going out for dinner and possibly a glass of wine with the rest of her class and would be back around ten. It was only eight, but dark outside, dark and...lonely.

I glared out the frosted panes of the door where I could make out the color of Angela's jacket. Well how wonderful that Angela had her Cullen right now, but where was mine? Edward refused to answer any of my questions in the car, and had instead engaged Angela in a long-winded conversation about some book series I'd never heard of, and when I tried to interrupt with more questions about Tanya and the rest of her family, Edward had asked Angela about her plans for the upcoming science fair, and I might as well have been mute and invisible for all the attention either one of them paid me.

I hadn't dared to text or call Emmett- he'd given me his cell number of course, but I was already desperate enough, I didn't need to add phone-stalker to the list, as I was already making the mistakes so common to teenage girls when they found somebody they really liked. Or was I? I'd been interested in guys before, cute guys who were sweet, who I had a lot of fun with. I'd felt butterflies before, the anticipation of a kiss, the want of more than that. I may not have been the most experienced, but I'd had the awkward fumbling of first-time sex, and I did care about the guy- we'd been friends for years and had dated, albeit casually, for some time before we took that leap- helped along, of course, by the questionable contents of red Solo cups that were to be found at most high school parties.

So I wasn't entirely virginal, and actually it seemed I only was in the intensity of my feelings for Emmett. I may have liked other guys, may have felt nervous and tried to be flirty with them, but that was nothing to what I felt with Emmett. He could make me free fall, could take my breath away. He made me laugh, made me feel like it was all going to be okay- even if logically I knew it would be a long time before my life was in one piece again. But that was the beauty of it all- Emmett brought out the one thing in myself that I had stopped believing was possible, that even existed at all. He brought out hope.

I sighed, rubbing my temples, suddenly exhausted. I needed a hot shower, a sleeping pill, and my pillow. I'd see Emmett tomorrow, even if I had to go to the Cullen's house, I'd at least make sure everything was okay, since Edward was useless at the moment. I thought of the way Angela lit up in his presence- okay, not entirely useless. But as he wasn't the one making me gaga, I was still irritated with him.

Grabbing my pajamas, I locked myself in the bathroom and started the shower.

Twenty minutes later, I felt clean and refreshed, and decided it was time for lights out. Back in my room, I stood in the doorway for a solid minute as I saw the box on my bed. It was a black box, rectangular. I opened it, my eyes widening.

Inside the box were pair of red and black running shoes- specifically, Salomon XT S-Lab 5 shoes. They were beautiful- beautiful and perfect and the kind of shoes a cross country runner from upstate New York could only hope for. The last time I'd checked around for prices, I'd found the cheapest pair for 300 bucks.

I lifted the shoes out of the tissue paper, a slim note card falling out. It read, sleep tight, Angel. I couldn't help but smile at that. When had Emmett got these? And how had he known my shoe size anyway? Surely Alice had told him- maybe she'd asked Angela. Or maybe vampires were really good at guessing shoe sizes. If Emmett had been here, why hadn't he stayed? Holding the box to my chest, I rushed out of my room, expecting and hoping at the same time, to see Emmett in the living room, but it was still dark, as was the kitchen. I opened the front door, Angela and Edward in the same position I'd left them in. Only Edward heard the door open, and his eyebrow raised at the box in my arms.

You? I thought, wondering if Edward had had the shoes in his possession all along. He shook his head.

Him.

Edward nodded.

But why-

Edward held up a silencing hand, indicating Angela, who was still talking, staring out off the porch.

I rolled my eyes and went back in the house, shutting the door silently behind me.

oooo

My alarm blared, pulling me from the black depths of dreamless sleep. It was six, still dark out, quiet. The perfect setting for a much needed run. I had to start breaking in my new shoes, didn't I?

As laced them up, I couldn't help but think about where they'd come from. If Emmett had put them in my room, why hadn't he waited for me? They hadn't been there before I'd showered, and my window had been shut tight. Either Angela and Edward had let him in and he'd left quickly, or he'd come in through the window, then back out again without bothering to say goodnight. Had I overstepped some boundaries I didn't know existed last night? Said something repulsive? Pushed too far with the vampire thing? Edward hadn't seemed to mind, but had Emmett?

I didn't need this right now. I needed to focus. Losing myself in physical exertion would help, if only for a while. At least until I could see Emmett again. In the kitchen, I mixed myself up an instant breakfast smoothie, adding a few chocolate chips to help with the taste, and slugged it while I put on my jacket and found my iPod. I definitely needed something to get my blood pumping, maybe not anything angry but something I could get a rhythm with. When the appropriate song had been located, I took a deep breath, pausing to stretch out for a bit, then opening the door quietly I stepped out onto the porch.

The air was damp, the stairs and street beyond the yard wet. The grass was covered with frost, typical, Angela had told me, for the mornings this time of year. Once Spring was in full swing the mornings would warm up a bit, but I wasn't expecting much. Still, I'd run in worse. I zipped my jacket up, ready to head down the steps, when Emmett appeared. Caught off guard, I leaned back into the railing. "Jesus!" I said, "I thought I told you not to do that!"

"Sorry. Forgot you scare easy." He smirked at me, while I tried not to let my eyes follow the contour of his muscles in the clinging Under Armour top he wore.

It was so good to see him. Ugh, how pathetic was I? It'd been less then what, twelve hours since I last saw him? And already my pulse was beginning to race with his nearness. I hoped that one day I'd be able to, you know, behave like a normal human being around him, but I doubted that.

"So listen," I said, fumbling for a topic of conversation, "thanks for the shoes. I mean, I figured they were from you..." Lame segue, maybe, but how else was I going to bring up the previous evening? Not that I deserved an explanation, really. For all I really knew Emmett had taken me along to appease his brother, or maybe he just didn't want to be the third wheel with Angela and Edward mooning over each other.

Emmett's eyes- melted caramel, even in the semi-dark- searched mine, knowing what was on my mind as well as I did. I was an open book to him, from my pounding heart to my thoughts.

"It's...complicated. I know that sounds like a lame guy move. I get that. But my...ex...it's not easy to talk about. Can you understand that?" He came closer, to the bottom step.

Could I understand that? I breathed that. I hadn't told a soul- not the string of therapists or social workers or foster families that had been shoved into my life following the death of my parents. Not even Angela and Marlene, who in the very short time I'd been in Forks, had become the people I trusted most. But that wasn't exactly true, was it? I trusted Emmett more- after all, he was the only person I had mentioned that woman to. Why had I done that? Well, because Emmett was a vampire and-

Emmett was a vampire. And he hadn't hurt me. He wouldn't hurt me. That fundamental difference, something I had instinctively known that day at the airport, the very first time I'd laid eyes on him, is what made me fall for him, initially anyway. After everything Emmett had, albeit unknowingly, given me, who was I to begrudge him this? He deserved his privacy, as he'd respected mine, and to be honest, I didn't want to know much about Rosalie anyway. The less I thought of her, the less insecure I felt. And the less angry I was.

I think this was one of the best parts of Emmett and I anyway, this ability to understand each other without having to say much, if anything.

"So, we just gonna sit around chewing the fat like a bunch of old ladies or are we gonna actually do some running?" Emmett said after a moment of silence.

"Huh, think you can keep up?" I said, giving him a sideways smile.

He rubbed his chin, a contemplative look on his face. "I'm not worried." He came up the second step, inching nearer to me. Raising his hand to my face, he brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. Every nerve in my upper body nearly exploded at that, and even though I bit my tongue and clenched my hands at my sides, I was pretty sure a small moan had escaped my mouth anyway.

"Just some chocolate." Emmett said, and I was completely mortified. I pulled my face back, turning away to furiously wipe my mouth on my sleeve.

Just then something cold and wet smacked into the back of my head. I whirled around, glaring at Emmett, who had his hands up in the air and was looking innocently up at the sky. Shaking the frost ball from my hair I cupped my hand along the top of the railing, collecting the slush that had accumulated there. "You're dead, pal." I said, launching the misshapen mass at him.

"Too late for that, angel." He had swooped around behind me in less than a blink, and before I could even turn to him he slapped me lightly on my shoulder. "Tag, you're it!" He said, bounding off the steps, turning to see if I were following him. I rolled my eyes, but didn't try to stop the smile that crept on my face as I took off across the grass after him.

Lyrics from Demons by Imagine Dragons. Basically it's the perfect song for both couples, in my opinion. As ever, thanks for reading, and your feedback is appreciated!