A/N: Oh yes. And for those of you who didn't know. I'm not Stephenie Meyer. Thanks for your response to Chapter one! On phases of the moon….I got three reviews in the first day….yesterday…I got at least 30! I'm so stoked.
"This is it." Charlie said glumly, as if he were embarrassed. It's not as if I'd expected a palace. Things in movies like "The Princess Diaries" and "What a Girl Wants" simply don't exist.
I'm just happy my father isn't a drug addict or an alcoholic, like he was. I'm actually pretty happy that my Dad is a cop. At least he's a respectable citizen.
"It's plenty for me." I finally broke out of my thoughts to muster out.
He broke into a pleasant smile. The same smile I had. I never knew where I got it before.
"Are you excited to meet your brother?" He asked me. He spoke to me as if I were a child. I didn't know if that was because he thought that what happened to me somehow made me retarded, or because he was making up for lost time.
Either way, I didn't like it. I decided not to say anything though.
"I guess." I sighed. "I never even knew about him." I said quieter, mostly to myself.
"I just have to warn you. Emmett, your brother, he gets….excited." Charlie chuckled. I could see he loved Emmett very much. It gave me an inkling of hope that maybe he would love me some day the same way. As his child.
But I couldn't think like that.
"He should be home from school in about an hour. That'll give you time to have me show you your room, and for you to brace yourself for Emmett. He's big, but gentle." Charlie has the same inflection of compassion and love as he did before.
I had to admit, it put me at ease. I had tried to prepare myself for something awful, just in case, but he seemed nice.
I painfully forced myself to break a small smile. "That sounds good." I nodded.
Charlie led me into the house. I actually liked it, a lot. It had a very woodsy feel. It was decorated like a cabin, only it was as big as a house.
"Your bedroom is upstairs, next to Emmett's. It's not very nicely decorated. I'll give you some money to go to the store to buy the things you want. I just didn't know what kind of things you like." He smiled at me.
"Thank you." I said softly before following him up the stairs.
He walked me into a bedroom that was decorated in blue. It wasn't big, but it was definitely larger than my last room. It actually seemed comfortable.
"Well. This is it." He sighed. "Your bathroom is right there. Emmett will move all of his things down to my bathroom so you can have your own." He conceded.
"Wow. He doesn't have to do that. Really, I don't mind sharing." I suddenly felt like a burden. My newfound brother must already hate me. He just found out about me I'm sure, and now I'm invading his space.
"Don't worry about it, Isabella. He really doesn't mind. We're guys. We just need a sink, shower, and toilet." He chuckled again. I did like his sense of humor.
"Well if you're sure. And if you don't mind, I go by Bella." I told him, trying not to sound rude. I never liked my full name.
"I don't mind at all." He nodded. "I'm going to head downstairs and figure out what to do with dinner." He looked horrified.
"Do you cook." I asked him, he didn't seem like the type. I could see Charlie hunting the food, and maybe even chopping it up, but seasoning it, and timing it…I couldn't see that at all.
"I'm more of the eating type, I have to admit. But we have to eat." He shrugged.
"Do you mind if I cook?" I asked hesitantly. I loved cooking. It was soothing to me. And in a way, cooking dinner would be like…home.
"I couldn't ask you to do that." He almost scoffed.
"No, really. Cooking it pretty much one of my hobbies, I've been doing it since I was twelve." I decided to have one more go at my plea.
"Well, if you really want to. But if you're that afraid of eating my food, we can just get take out." He cocked one eyebrow up in an attempt at mock curiosity.
"I do." I nodded at him, and he seemed appeased.
We heard someone come in the front door. I jumped a little before I realized that it must have been Charlie's son. Or….my brother, I suppose.
My heart dropped. I realized that I would actually meet a sibling I never knew existed. I was terrified, and happy in a way.
I heard a few thudding footsteps up the staircase. "Dad, are you up there?!" A deep voice boomed, and I jumped again.
"Yeah. We're in Bella's room!" Charlie shouted back. I never understood why people shouted across the house, but watching them do it was pretty comical.
The thudding stopped as it reached the top of the stairs. His footsteps turned into quiet taps as he made his way to the doorway of my new bedroom.
He was huge.
We looked so much alike it was scary. We both had the same dark brown eyes, and curly brown hair. He had the same lips and teeth as me, that I now knew came from my Father.
The only difference was that I am 5'4, and he's more like 6'4.
His stature was incredibly menacing, but his face was calm, and sweet. I knew what Charlie meant when he made that comment about Emmett's size.
His familiar face turned into a huge grin as he practically leapt over to me and wrapped me in his huge arms.
It was the first time in three weeks that I didn't wince at being touched, but I still could have done without it.
"I can't believe you're here!" He boomed.
"Emmett!" Charlie scolded. "Put her down!" He huffed.
"Sorry Dad." Emmett sighed.
It was strange to see someone so big so obedient to a man he could take out in one punch.
He turned his attention back to me.
"Sorry about that. I'm just so glad to finally meet you. I never even knew about you until last week." He was still smiling.
My heart dropped a little when I realized that Charlie had never spoken of me at all.
"It's okay." I said quietly. "I'm about to head downstairs to start dinner, you can come with me if you'd like." I asked with a little too much hope.
The only thing I hated more than being around people was being alone.
And Emmett looked like he could protect me.
"Dad already has you cooking?" He asked with thick disapproval in his voice.
"I volunteered. I love cooking." I assured him, and he calmed down a little.
"Well then fine, just let me set my backpack in my room, and get changed, and I'll be right down." He smiled.
He walked out of my room, and I sighed heavily before making it down the stairs.
I walked into the kitchen, opened up the refrigerator and nearly gasped. It was almost bare.
How did these people eat?
I managed to find some pasta sauce in a can in the pantry, some noodles, and some ground beef.
Spaghetti would have to do. I began boiling the water.
"What are you making?" A voice came from behind me.
I screamed bloody murder and nearly started crying before I realized it was Emmett.
He quickly ran over to me.
"Bella? I'm sorry. Are you okay? What's wrong?" He said with shame in his voice.
"I'm fine…I just….can you….not…walk up…behind me?" A single tear trickled down my cheek as I spoke through hyperventilated breaths.
I hated that I was like this. It was embarrassing. I didn't think I would ever get over it.
I would live in fear my entire life until Phil was found. That was just the way it would be.
"I'm so sorry Bella, I really didn't know. Please don't cry." He begged as he tried to brush the tear off my cheek. I instinctively winced away.
"Don't worry about it, please. I'm just jumpy." I stated as my breathing returned back to normal.
Not a second later Charlie was down the stairs. Gun in hand. "Bella what's wrong?!" He shouted.
"Nothing. I just overreacted." I sighed even more embarrassed and ashamed than I was before.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. I'm okay." I nodded as I put salt in the boiling water.
Charlie walked out of the room and Emmett still stood there, dumbfounded by what just happened.
He took a deep breath. "Do you need help with anything?" He broke the silence, and for that I was grateful.
"You can chop the onions for the sauce if you want to." I told him. Glad he wasn't scared away by my melodrama.
"Sure thing." He hopped over to where the onions were and grabbed a knife.
I didn't like seeing people holding knives. I had to tell myself. He's using it for food, he's using it for food. Over and over.
He began chopping the onions as I plopped some ground beef into the pot and started seasoning it.
It seemed so weird to be doing something so normal in a place that's so new to me.
But at the same time, it made me feel better.
"That smells good!" He said in an almost barbaric way.
"I take it you like to eat?" I asked him, amused.
"I'm a big dude. I need fuel." He smiled.
I had to smile a little too, it wasn't as forced as last time, but it still stung.
After the meat was fully cooked, I had Emmett throw the onions in the pot.
If I were cooking spaghetti normally there would be many more ingredients, like mushrooms, and basil, but I had to make due with what I had.
I threw the noodles in the pot of salty water, and covered them.
"So what else do you like besides cooking?" Emmett asked.
"Well I play the guitar, and I like to paint." I told him.
"You didn't bring a guitar with you though." He noted.
"I had one, but when it happened…well, when my mom was killed…it got blood on it, so it was taken as evidence, I probably won't ever see it again." I sighed, and he looked down.
"I'm really sorry about what happened. As happy as I am to know I have a sister, I wish I would have found out another way." He mumbled.
"Thank you. It's not bad having a brother either." I shrugged.
He chuckled as he sloppily set the table and threw an old can of powdered parmesan cheese in the middle.
I checked the noodles, and drained them as soon as they were done.
Emmett called for Charlie to come down, and I scooped out two heavy helpings of spaghetti for them.
I gave myself a more reasonably portioned scoop and sat down at the table.
"Thanks Bella, this is really good." Charlie said.
Emmett just nodded. At least he didn't talk with his mouth full.
After dinner was over, I was ready for bed. I was jet lagged. I said goodnight to Charlie and Emmett, and headed up the stairs.
Once I was there I fell on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
I kept wondering how I ended up here. I liked Charlie and Emmett, but why couldn't I have them without my mother having to be murdered right in front of me?
They were my family, I deserved to know them, but I would give it up to have my mom back.
I buried my face into the pillow and began to cry. That's how I stayed until I fell asleep, to wake up and repeat the whole smiling act yet again.
A/N: YAY! Review?