"Good, it'll give ya incentive to listen to me for once," Coraline chimed happily as she looked out the window at the rare sunny day.
"How about you don't think about it, and I'll listen?"
"How about I don't, and you listen anyways," she said sweetly.
"Fine, fine," Edward grumbled as he closed his eyes and set his forehead on his hand.
'You're not focusing, Eddie,' she thought.
'Well, I'm sorry, but it's hard to focus with all this racket in the house,' he thought back.
'You just work on it, I'll see what I can do about the noise,' she thought to him.
"Em? Jazz?" She said lightly as she walked into the living room.
They ignored her and kept playing football on the Playstation.
"I KNOW Y'ALL CAN HEAR ME!" She yelled as she tore the controller out of Emmett's hand.
"What gives, woman?! I was about to kick his ass!" Emmett whined.
"EMMETT! LANGUAGE!" Esme yelled from upstairs.
"Ha-ha, not anymore sucker," Jasper snickered as he attempted to beat Emmett.
"You two listen to me right now!" She yelled again as she took the other controller from Jasper.
"OH COME ON! I WAS THREE YARDS AWAY FROM A TOUCHDOWN!" Jasper cried.
"Edward is in the other room tryin' real hard to focus, and you two are in here yellin' and swearin' at each other over the T.V. that is loud enough to deafen a human! There is no reason to have it up that high!"
"Sure there is," Emmett mumbled.
"And what is that?" Coraline retorted as she placed a hand on her hip.
"It's more fun that way," Emmett grinned triumphantly as Jasper gave an agreeing nod.
"Y'all better turn it down, or I'll break it, ya' hear?" She said as she threw the controllers back to them.
"Yeah, yeah," Jasper groaned as he rolled his eyes.
"Turn. It. Down," she repeated warningly as she pointed at Emmett, "Or else."
"Turning, turning!" He said as he lowered the volume with the remote.
"GOD ALMIGHTY, THANK YOU!" Edward yelled from the other room.
"EDWARD, FOCUS!" Coraline snapped.
"All of you! Enough with the yelling!" Esme scolded over the banister on the second floor, "My goodness!"
"Sorry, Mom," the boys said in unison.
"Sorry Esme," Coraline said lightly as she waved to her from the hall.
"It's okay Cor, and thank you for making them turn that down. It was giving me a migraine," Esme smiled sweetly.
"Never a problem," Coraline smiled as she went back into the dining room with Edward.
"How did you get away from the Volturi so easily?" Edward chuckled.
"What do ya' mean?" She piqued.
"Well, anyone besides Esme who can get those two to listen so easily is a rare commodity indeed."
"That's because no one wants to see me angry," she smiled.
'You're lying,' Edward thought.
'I don't know what you're talking about,' she thought back
'Then why do you keep telling yourself "Don't think about it, don't think about it" when one of us brings the Volturi up? What are you hiding from us?'
'Nothing, Edward, now focus,' she thought angrily as she turned to the window.
'Not until I figure out why you're hiding things from your family.'
'I'm not hiding anything!' She screamed in his head.
But in reality, Coraline knew she wouldn't be able to hide it forever. And at that very moment, it slipped out into her thoughts.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Edward yelled as he shoved away from the table, knocking the chair to the ground.
"What's wrong?!" Esme yelled as everyone rushed into the dining room to see what happened.
'Please Edward, don't say anything,' Coraline pleaded in his head.
"I'm just getting frustrated that this isn't working," he huffed to Esme.
"Don't scare us like that you jackass!" Emmett yelled as he punched Edward in the arm and left the room.
"Sorry," Edward grumbled as everyone went back to what they were doing.
'So you've been doing that all along, haven't you?' Edward thought with a growl.
'I swear, I haven't done it since Italy,' she pleaded.
'You going to tell him?'
'It's not necessary...'
'I think he deserves to know. And if you don't tell him, I'll tell Carlisle and Esme. And it will break their hearts.'
'Edward, please...'
'Tell him, or it will be hell for you,' he thought a final time as he stormed out of the room.
XXX
"Stupid damn power," Coraline thought to herself as she kicked a rock across the river.
"What's wrong?" Emmett chuckled as he leapt on one of the boulders and sat down.
"Hmm? Oh, nothin'," she smiled.
"You just shattered a tree with that rock," He laughed as he pointed across the river, "I know anger when I see it, believe me."
"I'm... I'm just frustrated that it's not working for Edward. I'm trying to figure out what I done wrong," she shrugged.
"I'm sure you aren't doing anything wrong. You've had alot more time than Edward to figure it out, it'll just take him a bit. He's trying really hard, and I know it works sometimes. Like last night."
"What?! He didn't tell me that!" She yelled.
"Yeah, when you and Alice were plotting our demise," he chuckled.
"Son of a bitch," she grumbled as she kicked another rock across the river.
"We aren't going to have a forest if you keep it up," he laughed as he hopped of the boulder, picked a rock of the ground, and skipped it across the river.
"Sorry," she sighed as she leaned on the boulder.
"It's fine with me, trees grow back. Well, if you re-plant them," he chuckled as he skipped another rock.
"I guess I should re-plant some, it is gettin' a bit sparse over there," she chuckled as the rock he skipped split a tree in half, "Is there a nursery in town?"
"In Port Angeles," he grinned as he leaned on the boulder next to her, "Need company?"
"Sure, if you wanna tag along," she shrugged with a smile as she brushed some dirt off his sleeve.
"I would love to," he smiled as he turned to face her, "About last night..."
"Emmett, you don't need to explain anything. You were drunk, I was drunk, things happened. It's fine," She smiled warmly.
"I'm um... I'm glad it happened," he said quietly as he twiddled his fingers.
"What?" She asked, shocked.
"Yeah. I am," he said proudly as he stood up straight, "I'm glad I kissed you. But if you don't want to talk about it..."
He was cut off by her lips crashing on to his.
"That works too," he chuckled as he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the house, "Come on, let's tell Esme and Carlisle we're leaving. Mom'll be happy to hear of our good deed towards the forest we've destroyed over the years."
"Can I come?!" Alice asked happily from the island as they walked into the kitchen.
"I guess that's up to Coraline, we're taking her car," Emmett chuckled.
Alice looked at her with big eyes and a pout.
"Of course you can come, Alice," Coraline giggled.
"BUT I get Shotgun," Emmett smirked.
"Fine. But I get to help pick them out," Alice pouted.
"We'll meet you at the car, just going to tell Car and Esme we're headin' out," Coraline smiled at Alice as Emmett dragged her out of the kitchen, "And I should probably get some clothes while we're out."
"You just made her night," Emmett chuckled as Alice squealed happily from the kitchen, "I actually need some new shirts, most of mine have been utterly destroyed."
"Where are you two going?" Esme chimed happily from Carlisle's office.
"Tree nursery. I figure we should re-plant some of them trees across the river. And then I need to get some clothes. And some new curtains and throw-rug for the room. Edward's taste is so damn different from mine," Coraline laughed.
"I've been meaning to replace those," Esme huffed, "Let me give you..."
"Don't you DARE say you'll give me the money, Esme. I'm livin' here now too, so I'm gonna pitch in. And you ain't gonna change my mind."
"Well, The clouds came in, so you don't have to worry about sunlight. It's almost sundown anyways, so you'll be fine. Have fun you three," Carlisle said with a smile.
"Of course we'll have fun shopping, now come on you two!" Alice chimed from downstairs, "Oh Jazz is coming!"
"Against my dearest will," Jasper huffed quietly.
"Shush Jasper. You need new pants," Alice scolded.
"Let's go," Coraline laughed as she fished her keys out of her pocket.