A long chapter to make up for the lack of updates. Do enjoy.

'Cause you've been hurt before

I can see it in your eyes

You try to smile it away, some things you can't disguise

Don't wanna break your heart

Baby, I can ease the ache, the ache

Emmett gave me a farewell salute from the street, and I shut the front door quietly, leaning back against it, a huge grin on my face. Obviously Emmett had kept to my pace- slow and boring, as he'd called it, with that ridiculously alluring smirk. It hadn't been the most intense workout, but I'd killed two birds with one stone- hanging out with Emmett and getting a run in.

I was still surprised at how well Emmett and I got along- boys had long since been a mystery to me, as they were to most girls. I had plenty of friends of both sexes back in New York, but when it came to romantic interests, those had been few and far between, if they'd been at all. Things had never really clicked into place with any other boy before- there'd always been the awkwardness, the worry of saying or doing the wrong thing, the drama that came from typical teenagers. Emmett, however, was anything but typical. No wonder I hadn't been eager to find a serious relationship with any of the boys from my past- none of them had a modicum of the humor, the goodness, that Emmett did. The fact that he was drop dead gorgeous and could put any male model to shame didn't hurt obviously, but what had initially attracted me to him had been his smile- an asset in my life that I now knew I couldn't live without.

I had just enough time for a quick shower before school, and was just toweling off my hair when the doorbell rang, followed by three quick knocks. I heard Angela's footsteps, and some muffled talking at the door.

"Kel, door's for you!" Angela called, giving me a wry smile when I passed her in the hallway. Emmett was back already? Vampire or not, he still had to go home and change first, and we'd just said we'd see each other at school. He couldn't possibly have done it that fast, even if he had offered me a ride.

"Mike." I said, confused, as the boy beamed at me. His hair was ridiculously layered with gel and I could smell his cologne from where I stood. I looked at the wooden clock that hung by the doorway, squinting to see the numbers. It was barely seven thirty in the morning. What was wrong with this guy?

"I was just on the way to school when I wondered if you needed a ride. I mean, we haven't really gotten to know each other as well as I'd like and we could talk...you know, about you, of course...you look really pretty, by the way." He said all this in a rush, as though it'd been rehearsed. He waited for me to respond- the same look on his face as when he'd sort of asked me to the movies.

I looked down at myself- jeans, a gray zip-up hoodie and beneath that, a Coney Island tank top. Pretty? This guy was seriously over reaching.

"Yeah, the wet dog look is so in." Angela said, from the doorway of the kitchen. She bit into an apple and looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Well, you know, it's more...Sports Illustrated swimsuit model look than wet dog," Mike stepped forward, reaching to brush my hair from my shoulder. Before I could a) sneer at his creepy comment and b) step away from his creepy come-on, the front door swung open, and Emmett, snow in his hair and his eyes almost black, rushed towards us, tracking water on Marlene's hardwood floor.

"Emmett!" Right behind him, Edward appeared, pulling on his brother's arm. Edward may have been slighter than Emmett, but he was still a vampire, still had muscle, and he slowed Emmett, sliding around to step in front of him. Mike's eyes were wide, and he stepped even closer to me, trying, I thought, to put myself between him and Emmett. He put a hand on my shoulder, urging me forward.

"Hands off, tool!" Emmett said in a low voice- was he talking to Mike or Edward?

Mike evidently thought it was him Emmett was growling at, and he jumped away from me as though I'd burned him. "Sorry bro, I didn't- it wasn't like I was- honestly I was just offering her a ride to school, you know?"

Edward shoved an elbow into Emmett's rib. Emmett relaxed a bit, but his dark eyes were glaring- not the child-like happiness I was used to. "She has one."

Mike nodded quickly, sensing danger. "Got it, I didn't know. I mean, she just moved here so how could I have-"

"Maybe you should go Mike." Angela broke in, stepping around Edward and Emmett to gesture towards the open door. "We'll see you at school. Drive safe!" She said, shutting the door after his scuttling figure.

"Jealous much?" She said to Emmett with a jovial roll of her eyes.

"He was hitting on her!" Emmett said, pushing Edward away from him. "Who does he think he is, anyway?"

"And who do you think you are, shoving your way in here like a goddamn neanderthal?" I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest. Sure, it'd been sort of cute- a guy like Emmett, jealous? Over me? It was something I'd never experienced before. Mike was clearly delusional if he thought I would ever be remotely interested in him. But Emmett was the one who had said, just this morning, that he needed to take things slow, that he had issues from his past to work through, drama that, I assumed, would take time to resolve. And though I was more than willing to wait for him, happy to merely be at his side in whatever capacity he wanted or needed me to be, how was it fair of him to act like an immature boyfriend when we'd never made that declaration?

"Exactly what Alice said." Edward said, nodding at me.

"Alice said...what?" Angela asked, an eyebrow raised.

"You're not seriously mad at me?!" Emmett asked, incredulous. "That guy is a serious creep, I was doing you a favor!"

"Shall we?" Edward muttered at Angela, deflecting her question.

"Uh, sure, I was just making waffles. Hungry?"

Edward smiled at her. "Famished."

They left the room, Edward giving me a small wink as he passed me. I turned back to Emmett, whose arms mimicked mine, crossing his wide chest.

"Guys might hit on me, Emmett. I'm the new girl in town, remember?"

"Well I don't want them to." He said, coming closer to me.

"I'm not hot on it either, but if you don't want- "

"Whoa, when did I say that? Obviously I- "

"Have issues to work out and I get that, but you can't just- "

"Oh I can sister, and I will." He was centimeters from me, the look in his eyes now playful.

I glared up at him, but it was hard to stay mad- not that I'd really been that upset in the first place. He was close enough that I could smell pine needles, the cold of his body pressing up against me but not quite touching me.

"So what are you saying?"

"I like you, Kelly, and-"

"That's putting it mildly," Edward's dry observation came from the kitchen and I heard Angela stifle a giggle.

I held up a hand, and Emmett bit his lip, dropping his arms. "I know that...Rosalie...hurt you." I said quietly, and a spark passed through his brown eyes at the mention of her name, "and I know it's...early. For us, I mean. I just moved here, but since the airport Emmett, I can't stop thinking about you. And wanting you. And as pathetic as it sounds, needing you."

"You're not the only one-"

"And," I said over him, taking his hand in mine, "there's no other guy that could give me what you have. Ever. So when weird little boys try and give me rides to school," I dropped his hand and jabbed my finger into his stone chest, "don't sweat it. Like I'd get into Mike's hot pink VW Bug anyway."

A smile spread out on his face, leaving me, as always, shaky at the knees. "To be fair, it's his mom's car."

I waved my hand dismissively. "Whatev. I'm going to get ready for school, you're welcome to wait and then offer me a ride. You know, like a gentleman."

"I guess I should've done that earlier."

"Hang on," I said, turning back to face him, "how did you know Mike was here, anyway? You said you were going home."

"Luckily I caught Alice before she went out to hunt and-"

"Alice can see the future." Edward had come back into the room. "And I'll thank you," Edward said icily to Emmett, "to keep your voice and your temper down. What if you had hurt him? How would we explain that, hm?"

Emmett rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to hurt him...just scare him."

"Alice can see the future?" I mumbled. I'd never heard of anything as incredible as that when it came to undead talents. The Cullens truly were a breed of their own.

"Yes. Now, enough from the two of you. I'm perfectly content with Angela remaining in the safety of the dark, and we'll be keeping it that way." Edward gave a curt nod to each of us, and went back into the kitchen were Angela had announced breakfast was on the table.

I shook my head, then turned back again for the bathroom.

"He's right, you know." Emmett called. "You do look really pretty."

"Don't think flattery will get you anywhere, chief."

"Whatever you say, angel."

oooo

Emmett POV

"I wanted to be the one to tell her." Alice pouted, as we met her and Jas coming into school.

"Don't be petty." Edward said, watching Angela until she disappeared into the computer lab. "In any event, if Emmett had an ounce of impulse control, you could have been the one to reveal your gift to Kelly."

"Yeah thanks, jerk." Alice muttered, glaring at me.

I held up my hands in defense. "Why is everybody freaking out about that? I did her a favor. Now that douche will leave her alone."

Alice shrugged in a vague way- did that mean Mike wouldn't actually take the hint? Did I have to kill this guy to get him to leave my girl alone or what?

"She isn't 'your girl', and that's a very antiquated line of thinking." Edward said irritably.

"You'd know. And I know, how barbaric of me. But I want her to be mine, alright? Only mine."

"I told you he should've gone hunting." Jasper said, shaking his head at me. Out of everybody, Jasper was probably the one who was most uncomfortable with Kelly and Angela now being in our lives. And okay, I was starving, and okay, I wasn't in an awesome mood. Kelly talking about Rose...it hadn't brought back any great feelings, that was for sure. Not that she hadn't said anything that wasn't common knowledge to probably the entire town, but that didn't mean I liked those two realities- my past and my present- converging.

"It's because you have a choice to make. And you don't want to." Edward said matter-of-factly, stopping outside a classroom. "Or," he said, before going in, "you already know what your choice is and aren't sure you want to deal with the consequences of it."

"Earth to Emmett! Coming through." A shrill voice said behind me, and I turned, seeing Lauren there. Her scent invaded my nostrils, a sharp chemical smell of too much perfume, liquid foundation and hairspray.

She grinned- or leered would be the best way to describe it- up at me. "So Em, are you finally going to ask me out? I mean, we've been beating around the bush for ages." Her mouth was painted a ridiculously red color- she looked like a circus clown.

Since when?! I couldn't even stand this girl- she'd been systematically trying to get to each of the male Cullens- yes, Carlisle included- since the day we moved into town. Having failed miserably with my brothers and father, now it was my turn, me being the one she pursued the most, since I was technically single.

"Uh-" I stammered, wondering what I could have ever done or said to her to make her think I was anything but annoyed by her.

"Oh he's just shy, you know, the strong and silent ones always are." Edward said with a huge grin, scribbling something on a piece of paper and handing it over to Lauren. "Call him anytime- he's much better over the phone, at least when it comes to pretty girls and he always has his cell on him." He gave Lauren a roguish wink and turned to the door.

You. Fucker.

"What was the term? Payback is a bitch. Literally." Edward said, too low for human ears to hear.

"Aw, that's so cute! Having your brother pick up girls for you. Well, that's okay- as long as I'm the only one." Lauren reached up and lightly bopped (yes. she BOPPED. B. O. P. P. E. D.) my nose with her index finger, flipping her hair over her shoulder and casting me one last look, which I guess was supposed to be alluring but just made her look all the more clownish, before she entered the classroom behind Edward.

I heard more footsteps, and turned to see Kelly, Jasper, and Alice approaching. She hadn't seen me yet, and I took the chance for an exra long, slow look at her.

Her dark hair was pulled to one side, allowing an unobstructed view of her neck, pale in the fluorescent light. Her eyes- deep as ever- lit up as she laughed over something Alice said. Now that was alluring, now that was sexy. Whatever Lauren was trying so hard to be could never compare to what Kelly, so effortlessly it seemed, was.

"And you," Alice rounded on me, pointing an accusing finger at me, "will be taking Kelly on a proper date to make up for your idiotic behavior this morning. You're so embarrassing, jeez!"

Kelly pursed her lips, trying to hide a smile. "Yeah, a good date too, not one where I have to spend the whole night watching Edward slobber over my cousin."

"Pain of being with a Cullen, Angel." I said with a shrug. Edward would be a necessary evil for a long time, if the way he looked at Angela was any indication of how much he liked her.

Kelly looked up at me, tilting her head in a questioning sort of way. "Is that so?"

"Did I stutter?" I lifted my hand to her face, brushing my thumb down her impossibly smooth cheek, tracing her jaw. Kelly's eyes, nearly black, bored into mine with a hunger I was all-to familiar with.

"Ahem." Jasper glared at us, as though he'd just caught us dry humping in his car. Which didn't actually sound half bad...

The bell blurred above us, and Kelly shook her head, giving me a small smile. "I'd better go. Meet you after school?"

I nodded, and she disappeared through the door, leaving me alone with Alice and Jasper who were both rolling their eyes at me.

oooo

Typically I enjoyed English. It was a class I had no troubles in, and at my old school, I had always been able to test into the honors classes. Here there were no such offerings, but I figured with a decent teacher the class couldn't be all bad.

Much to my dismay, Mr. Tulle yapped on for nearly twenty minutes at the sweet irony and tragic love between Romeo and Juliet. After he proclaimed it to be the most sincere and passionate love story ever told, I snorted, pursing my lips when it came out loudly.

Mr. Tulle raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't agree, Kelly?"

Lauren and Jessica were glaring daggers at me. How dare I insult the beautiful love of Romeo and Juliet? How dare I deface Shakespeare in any way, shape or form when his play was the foundation for Leo Dicaprio's career? Didn't I know how hot he was?

"Uh, no, I don't. Hamlet and Ophelia are much better characters and their ending was a thousand times more tragic. Shakespeare's other tragedies have little substance and even less appeal. Yeah, we get it, he hated women and thought love was a joke."

"And just who do you think is a better writer?" Lauren said, her eyes hardly slits.

"Yeah, enlighten us!" Jessica said, with a look on her face like I'd destroyed every hope and dream she'd ever had. Christ, the girl probably didn't even know there were other poets or playwrights out there. And somebody really needed to tell her she shouldn't use words she couldn't spell.

Edward gave a small snicker behind me. Oh right. The whole reading-every-thought-you-have thing. Oh man, that had to blow- being subjected to minds like Jessica's everyday? I'd have put a bullet in my mouth a long time ago.

"Yes, that's a fine idea. If you don't think Romeo and Juliet truly an epic love story, why don't you share with us your favorite, say, romantic poem?" Mr. Tulle said, looking to the class for approval.

"Alright," I said, sitting up straighter in my chair.

"It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of ANNABEL LEE;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea;

But we loved with a love that was more than love-

I and my Annabel Lee;

With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven

Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling

My beautiful Annabel Lee;

So that her highborn kinsman came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,

Went envying her and me-

Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud by night,

Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we-

Of many far wiser than we-

And neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,

In the sepulchre there by the sea,

In her tomb by the sounding sea."

"That...that's disgusting!" Lauren wailed. "Seriously, you're a major freak!"

"Definitely creepy." Jessica agreed, and I rolled my eyes. She probably hadn't been able to follow a word I'd said.

"Well," Mr. Tulle said, clasping his hands behind him, "it is quite interesting, I suppose...not many would claim Poe as a romantic."

I shrugged. "Poetry is subjective. I for one see the romanticism of returning to your loved one's side, of never wanting to let go. Of loving somebody that much, even if they aren't... exactly living."

Edward caught my eye, and my stomach flipped a little. I could almost hear the word coming from his lips.

Ironic.

Yes, yes, I suppose it was. After all, Emmett wasn't technically alive...and I did care about him, there was no point in denying that. But my love for Poe had started years ago. I was probably twelve, and my mother and father were out for a business dinner with one of the partners in my father's firm. As this was a common event, what with having a businessman for a father, my parents usually left me with a close friend of my mother's, Hama, a Jewish immigrant who had been my mother's nanny when she was a little girl, before her father had married Marlene's mother. Hama lived in the city, on the lower east side of Manhattan, in a cozy apartment on the sixth floor of an aged building, but it reeked of history, and I loved it there. Hama was a widow, and had been for years. Even my mother had never met Hama's husband, Patchik.

Anyway, Hama had first introduced my mother to art, and so passed on the tradition to me. We were going to an opening, a small little gallery in a loft a few blocks away. The artist was up and coming, which meant he was poor but talented. His apartment was breathtaking, really. There wasn't a square inch of free wall space, all of his art hung up at every angle possible to fit the next piece, and when he'd run out of wall space, he propped the larger paintings and sketches in frames against the peeling formica kitchen counter, against the threadbare sofa, against the windows.

While Hama helped him set out the usual gallery fare of tiny sandwiches and pita with hummus, mini plastic tumblers that would be filled with boxed wine, I followed the strings of white Christmas lights around the floor, trying to put the expertise that my mother had pounded into my skull since I could remember, to use. I observed every brush stroke, each smear of charcoal pencil, every too-bright color and too-dark shadow. From my own opinion, I thought this guy, Thai his name was, extremely talented.

And then I saw it. It wasn't large, wasn't small, just an unframed canvas set on an aged end-table that was fairly beat up, something Thai had probably picked up at a flea market, bought for its use rather than its looks. It was storm cloud grays and midnight purples, blacks so deep it was like a galaxy void of stars. Your eye wasn't drawn anywhere, and that was the brilliance of the painting, because you had to search for what was there. And while you were looking you had this prickling sense of foreboding, like when you finally did see what Thai was trying to show you, you wouldn't be able to get it out of your head, and maybe you would wish you hadn't seen it in the first place.

It was a long curve of a particular shadow that finally revealed what the painting was about. The upward jut of a high cheekbone, a brush of smooth hair against ash skin. I had to stop myself from reaching up and touching the painting, my mother's scolding voice in my head, going on about idiots who didn't realize how damaging the oil on their skin was to precious art. To my mother, all art was precious, whether it was good or not. Besides, she always told me, art is neither good nor bad. It just is.

"Her name is Annabel." Thai said from behind me, holding out a glass of wine. Accustomed to the stuff for years now, having tagged along to every art show my mother would allow, I took the glass.

"She's...beautiful." I said. Not because it was expected of me, or because I was trying to be polite. She truly was. At least, what Thai had shown of her. A sculpted bone structure, silky hair, and if I looked close enough, thick lashes that held a single, pearly tear. Or was it tens, hundreds, of microscopic droplets that made up a larger one?

"She's dead." Thai said conversationally. "But see," he said, before I could reply, "her lover comes." He pointed to a space of the painting that was empty blackness, not even a speck of purple or gray to dilute its darkness.

"I don't..." I began, but again, my mother's voice rang in my ears. 'It's not what you see, darling, it's what you don't see. Truly, that is what art is about."

A smile crept up Thai's face. "You understand."

I nodded. "I think so. You said her name was Annabel...did you know her?"

Thai shrugged. "She's one of Poe's. You should check it out. He's brilliant."

"So are you," I said, gesturing to the hundreds of works all around us. "You're a true artist."

"Heh," Thai said, tipping his own glass of wine against his mouth and swallowing its contents, "nobody becomes an artist unless they have to."

So that was how my love affair with Edgar started. I read Annabel Lee first, of course, and from there I couldn't stop. I devoured his works, reveling in the prickles at the back of my neck while submerging myself in the fractured stories. I pushed every English and Lit teacher I had to assign Poe projects, but I was denied at every turn. He simply wasn't required curriculum, and therefore unnecessary to my education, or so they claimed. I felt the complete opposite, because through his words I began to see the world differently, in a darker way that I felt was more realistic. He taught me the beauty of words, the subtle use of provocative images and how merely a phrase can stay with a person forever.

If not for the way of looking at things from several different macabre standpoints, as Poe had taught me, I may not even see Emmett the way I did, I may not have any interest in him or what he made me feel. So yeah, that made him far more valuable to me than Shakespeare and his pseudo love stories.

"I think Kelly raises a good point," Edward said behind me, and I realized that, as I had traveled down that memory of Thai and Hama, Edward had come along as well.

"Oh, Mr. Cullen? And what is that?" Mr. Tulle asked.

"That love and romance isn't linear. It isn't something you can conform to...there are no written rules to it. It isn't wrong, nor is it right. It just is." I turned at these last words, my eyes meeting his.

Jessica was all-but swooning by this point. Even though Mike was sitting in front of her, her eyes were adoring as she gazed at Edward. God only knew what she was thinking.

The bell rang out shrilly above us, and Mr. Tulle clapped his hands together. "Interesting, interesting indeed! Homework, begin act one of Romeo and Juliet- to be completed by Friday, with an accompanying essay about the events and your interpretations of them."

I groaned, but hurried to catch up with Edward as he left the classroom.

oooo

Emmett POV

I looked at my buzzing phone for a few seconds before I picked up. In retrospect, I should've ignored it, should've let the call go to voice mail. But Tanya was persistent- more so than any human I had met, and she wouldn't leave me alone until she had said what she wanted to say.

"Ah, Emmett, you sure do know how to keep a girl waiting, don't you? Well, anyway," She said without waiting for me to reply, "I just thought you should know that Rosalie has left us- for a short while. I'm sure she'll be back soon, she said she had a few...errands...to run, and was planning on visiting Russia of all places, can you imagine?"

"Why are you telling me this?" I said through gritted teeth.

"Well that's just it, isn't it? Why should I even bother? Surely you are of no consequence to me. Alas, we are family however, and we all know how important that term is to Carlisle and Eleazar." Her voice was mocking, but that wasn't a surprise. She was with Carmen and Eleazar for their offered protection, and ours, by extension.

"So you're keeping tabs on Rose to do me a favor?"

Tanya chuckled. "Don't you get it, Emmett? Rose is making these rounds, searching for something that, ultimately, she'll never find. She'll be back to you eventually. I'm just...questioning your attachment to that human girl. It does seem rather predictable, doesn't it? That you'd be so hurt and desperate that merely anybody who showed you the slightest sympathy would be somebody you'd latch onto. Such is your personality, Emmett. Don't forget, I've known you since you were, ah, born."

"If you're saying that Kelly is like, my rebound-"

"All I'm saying, is why not explore your options a bit? Perhaps that little orphan is of great importance to you. And perhaps any measly human wiling to offer you companionship will do, in Rose's absence. Shouldn't you at least find out which is true?"

"But I-"

"Oh sure, your intentions are quite noble, and I'm sure there's something about her- Kelly, her name is? About Kelly, that you're drawn to. And if that's the case, well, shouldn't that give you more reason to attempt a relationship with another human? If your feelings for Kelly are genuine, you're certainly putting her at risk, don't you think?"

"I've considered it." I said, my voice barely controlled, my hands both balled into fists.

"Oh Emmett, ever defensive. A long story short, then. If Kelly means as much to you as you say she does, don't you owe it to both her and yourself to make sure that somebody can't just, come along and snatch your attention away?"

I hated Tanya. She was cold, calculating, and cared only about herself- but I couldn't argue with her logic. I put Kelly at risk every second of every day, and yeah, I was sure I cared about her. That was the easy part. But...there was always that but. The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt Kelly. What if what Tanya said was true? What if Rose DID come back? It was something I thought about, and had wished for countless times. But now...I had to be sure that my feelings for Kelly were absolute. Maybe another girl really would turn my head- though I didn't think that was very likely at all. Could I take that risk?

"Better safe than sorry, Emmett. Now, you be a good boy and take care. Ta." Tanya hung up, leaving me alone with my very unpleasant thoughts. If her entire purpose had been to shake me, to let doubt creep into my relationship with Kelly, Tanya had achieved her goal.

Had it just been so long since I'd been with a girl that any of them would make me feel like Kelly did? Maybe it was a human thing, the way these Webber chicks affected vampires. My throat burned, my body aching with hunger, and now with angry insecurity.

I had to find out if what Kelly and I had was real, or if it just seemed that way because I felt lonely. She had caught my attention in a way none of the other girls around here had, but she'd said it herself- she was the new girl in town. Why would I be any less fascinated with her?

oooo

Alice POV

"This isn't fair." I said, putting my foot up to a stone bench and easily shoving it out of the way. I was pissed off at Tanya and Emmett equally. Tanya for getting into Emmett's head, and Emmett for letting her. He was weak, irrational, emotional, when he was hungry, prone to any kind of attack, mental included. How could he let his guard down so easily? And especially about Kelly, when anybody could see he was so crazy about her.

"Maybe not, but what if Tanya's right?" Jasper said, holding his hands up defensively when I rounded on him with a snarl on my face. "Easy, easy. I mean, what if she's right about Rosalie? If she comes back, then Emmett really will have a choice to make. Maybe if he goes out with somebody else, or a few somebody elses, he'll be able to have more backbone where she's concerned. This could be a good thing." He was trying to be rational and soothing, but I wasn't in the mood to be comforted.

"Kelly is going to be really hurt. Devastated." I said glumly, my chin in my hand.

Jasper nodded. "Maybe so. But, whatever the outcome, better it happen now, so early in their...relationship, than later, right?"

"Whatever. I'm out. If I even see Emmett right now I'm going to kill him." I said, lacing my Chanel backpack through my shoulders. "You can come if you want."

Knowing the hidden meaning of "if you know what's good for you" buried in those words, Jasper moved from the wall he'd been leaning against and took my hand, giving it a small squeeze before we left the small courtyard, breaking into a blurring run towards the open forest behind the school.

oooo

Emmett POV

Her head was bent over a book, and her hair had fallen over one side of her face. Her scent was all around- mouth watering, delicious, more potent in my starving state. Out of comfort instead of need, I let out a deep, steadying breath. I didn't want to do this. I doubted Kelly wouldn't take this personally, and it was the last thing I wanted to do, to hurt her.

"Hey." I said, and Kelly's head snapped up. She pushed the cover of her book closed, and gave me a smile. "Ah, my rescuer." She held up a battered copy of Romeo and Juliet. "I know the guy was a legend and all, but this book is such shit."

"Right. Look, can I ask you something? Tell you something," I corrected. I wasn't asking permission, even though I'd feel a hell of a lot better if Kelly could at least be okay with what I had to do. But how could I explain something like this? I wasn't even sure I understood it.

"Yeah, shoot." Kelly said, opening her backpack and shoving the book inside.

"I'm going to ask Lauren out. You know, on a date."

She looked up at me, shock showing in her eyes for a split second before the hurt overtook it. She dropped her gaze to her bag, zipping it shut.

"Kelly?" I asked quietly. When she looked up, her expression was indifferent, her dark eyes that were always, at least to me and for me, open and deep, hard and cold.

"I thought you said...earlier, I mean, but I guess I got it wrong. Right, okay. I'm sure...I'm sure she'll be ecstatic." She slid her backpack onto her shoulders. "I gotta head." She muttered, turning away from me.

I went to grab her hand but she jerked away as if I were covered in acid. "Don't touch me." Her voice was low and had a pleading edge to it.

"Sure, okay. Uh, you alright?"

Kelly met my eyes for a second that seemed like an eternity. I searched for something, for anything, in her glittering eyes, but I got nothing. They were blocking out all light, all emotion.

She swallowed, then gave me a forced half-smile. "Always."

Lyrics from Give Your Heart A Break by Demi Lovato. As ever, your feedback is greatly appreciated!