Ch. 20

A.N.) Hey everyone! I want to first thank lazygirl89, 01Katie, .marie, tamwhit, Steph A15 (I'm glad to be back! XD), and fresh-BLOOD-was-drawn-2night for reviewing! Thank you! Also, thank you to everyone who has favorited or followed this story, you always encourage me to keep writing! I am going to try to post a chapter at least once every one-and-a-half months, but I will try to post sooner than that. This story is definitely is an AU that will follow the Vampire Diaries timeline (for a while at least) and I hope you all like the story! I apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes!

Enjoy the chapter!

~UnicornNinja12

Chapter 20

~BOS~

I sat on the bench not too far from where my father drank his vervain-spiked lemonade, waiting for any sign of Emmett's arrival at the park. With the sun still shining brightly in the sky, my mind considered the ways our meeting could turn out. He could show up by foot in the forest, by car, or he could not show up at all. Okay, maybe there aren't a lot of different options, but it was the easiest thing to find an answer for. Our encounter was seemingly random. How could I run into Emmett mid-sunny-day at a house I have rarely gone to in a small town? Dressed to completely cover himself from the sun, out and about selling cookies just to leave shortly after entering the house without bothering to talk to Mrs. Lockwood about the cookies? In Mystic Falls with a travel agent's business card reused to have his handwritten phone number on the back? This could not have been a coincidence. I had seen Alice not too long ago, not too far from here. Now Emmett. There is no way this could have been a coincidence.

The sound of tires from a forest green Ford truck pulled me from my thoughts. "Bella! Get in!" Emmett's voice boomed out from the cracked driver side window.

"Why don't you join me in the shade?" I suggest as an alternative. After everything that happened, I felt wary of getting into the truck, but I still wanted to talk to him.

Emmett hesitated briefly before suddenly blurring over to me. Unlike my time in Forks, I could trace his running a similar manner as I could follow my father's and Uncle Stefan's running: not very clearly, but I could track their fast movement. My contacts must have really messed with my vision.

Emmett's golden brown eyes were exactly as I remembered, shining with happiness. Without my contacts in, the slight flaws in his face made him look slightly more… human, but still undeniably beautiful. Like an artist's painting rather than simply a marble statue. "No one is within a mile of us so we should be able to talk without anyone overhearing," he said briefly checking over his shoulders to verify.

"Why are you here?" I blurt out before I could process my thoughts much less my words. At Emmett's confused look, I clarified, "I haven't seen you since some time before Edward broke up with me months ago. The last time I saw anyone was when I recently ran into Alice and she quickly left like I was the plague." I watched him closely, hoping to get some answers, as I continued, "But you sought me out. Why?"

The look of hurt on Emmett's face was one I couldn't ever seeing happy, energetic Emmett making nor one I would want to be the reason behind. Emmett remained silent though his face betrayed signs of guilt and debate. Maybe, in the end, we were both hurt from the situation.

I sighed knowing that I would need to press to get answers and he would need to tell me the reason he was here. I needed answers. "Before Edward left, he promised that I would never see any of you again. Did you make that promise to Edward? To never see me again?" I asked keeping my facial expression and my voice steady despite the constriction in my throat and the prickling at the corner of my eyes. At the feeling, I pushed back the feelings refusing to feel any more pain from the situation. "Did you promise?"

"It's not really that, but," Emmett said after a moment of debate. "I missed my clumsy friend."

Emmett suddenly pulled me into a brief, bone crushing hug. Tears began to prickle at my eyes and my face softened a bit as I patted him briefly on the back. It wasn't much of an answer, but it was something.

After releasing me from the hug, I thought back on what he said. "But if you missed me, why didn't you come sooner? Why did you leave without saying anything?"

"Because Edward is my brother and he wanted a clean break for you. He asked us not to talk to you, meet with you, and he even asked Alice to stop seeking out your future. He looked so sad , I didn't want to hurt him further," he explained an apologetic expression.

"So you all hurt me to make Edward feel better? Assuming my 'human' memories would forget people who had, for a period of time, been a large part of my life, been people I considered family?" I asked, anger laced in my tone as I sought clarification. "Was I not worth at least a goodbye?"

"You were, but Edward is my brother and I couldn't just drive back to Forks after the rest of my family left town. Mainly because Alice would see it coming but also because I didn't want to upset Edward any more than he was and break his rules."

"But you found me at Lockwood Manor; therefore broke your brother's rules," I point out, the anger gone with confusion taking it's place. I couldn't stay mad at him for something I would have, at the very least considered, in a similar situation.

"That's not necessarily true," a cool feminine voice interjected. Rosalie had blurred beside Emmett at my observation. She, as I had noticed with Emmett, was still stunning though less in an alien sort of way, more of a human/vampire way. "Edward asked us not to find you, but he never said anything about accidently running into you. And if we did run into you, it would be rude to just run off. Alice was an idiot not saying anything to you, but she was helpful in inadvertently approximating your location."

"'Approximating your location'," I said quietly to myself. They had made an effort. One that was a compromise of following and breaking the rules.

"Emmett missed you, but couldn't just march to your doorstep," she said gazing at Emmett fondly.

"So we devised a plan to bump into you, therefore not upsetting Edward's rule and getting to see you," Emmett said excitedly before capturing me in a bone-crushing hug. "I've missed you," he said after releasing me.

"I've missed you too Emmett," I said with a small smile before turning to Rosalie whose face had returned to her impassive expression. "I missed you as well Rosalie. I know we really didn't, well, we weren't close but I've always appreciated your honesty."

Rosalie eyed me a moment. "I can't say I have missed you much, but I can't deny I have missed you a little."

I shrugged my shoulders knowing that were not close in the first place and the distance wasn't likely to bring us closer.

"So what now?" I asked eyeing the two vampires curiously. "Are you both going to disappear, stay, or leave me in the forest like Edward did?"

Both vampires glared, but it was Emmett who spoke first. "Edward left you in the forest? When?"

My eyebrows rose in surprise as I answered, "When we broke up, he left me in the woods. Didn't you know? Wasn't that part of his 'clean break' goal?"

Both vampires shared a dark look. "No," Emmett said slowly as the two vampires broke eye contact, "we didn't know that our brother would do such a stupid. But to answer your other question, no we won't disappear forever, but we won't be staying too long. What we did-hell- what our family did was wrong and I didn't want to leave on that note. You have my number I have absolutely no intention changing the number or losing it. But we are going some place with out very good reception," Emmett said looking at Rosalie with wide-eyes before looking at me and saying, "But you can come with us if you want? That is if you can get Charlie's approval-" Emmett was silenced by a sharp glare and an elbow to the ribs from Rosalie.

"I appreciate the offer but no thanks. I appreciate you 'accidentally' bumping into me and providing a reason why you all just left. I can't say I would blame you for picking your family over me, but I can't say I wasn't hurt by being left in the dark during an extremely hard period in my life. I can't say that I can just let you step back into the same I had you back at the start of September, but I don't want you to be strangers either." I offer my hand, "Friends?"

Emmett's face broke into a large smile before enthusiastically shaking my hand. "Friends." Releasing his hand, he starts to say something before freezing. "Someone just screamed," he said looking into the woods.

I follow his gaze and begin to run in that direction before Emmett stopped me. "You won't make it there very fast going on foot, let me run you there."

I nodded. In less than a blink, Emmett had me placed in the woods not too far from the view of a clearing. Emmett froze again before saying, "I don't think I'll be able to go over there, I smell blood." He glancing briefly before turning back to me with an apologetic glance.

Small traces of the blood smell wafted in my direction causing me to wrinkle my nose at the smell. I nod in understanding before saying, "I'll take care of this from here. Thanks for the ride." Before Emmett could leave, I said with a small smile, "Don't be a stranger."

He sends me a smile before quickly disappearing from my sight. Leaving me alone, in the forest. The thought doesn't hurt me, of anything I am amused. I let out a small chuckle starting walk toward the clearing. This was the second time I was left alone in the forest but this time I leave the forest with a small smile. Well, until I heard a pained grunt and a set of feminine voices talking. Voices that sounded like Elena, Caroline, and the witch that tried to burn father alive (Bonnie, I think). Focusing in the direction of the voices, I noticed a blonde and brunette woman standing by an old well talking down the well. Hold on that looks like Caroline and the witch and most likely the other voice is Elena. Then Elena is in trouble. I began running.

Leave a review if you would like!

Until next time!

~UnicornNinja12