Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all these wonderful characters; I just have them at the mercy of my will for now.

Gatlinburg, Tennessee-1935

All four of us were huddled around a bed containing a very bloodied mammoth of a human being. There were two new puncture wounds on his neck. Rosalie's thoughts were frantic although her facade was still calm and decidedly unemotional. Her mind kept flickering back to memories of a young boy. I wondered what that had to do with this thrashing young adult male.

"What happened?" Carlisle was holding down one arm while I pinned the other. Esme had his feet, and Rosalie just stood off to the side and watched.

"He was being attacked by a grizzly bear. I managed to kill the bear and ran all the way home with him on my back."

"How far did you have to run?"

"Probably about a hundred miles."

"Rosalie! Why on earth were you out there?" Esme was very protective of us considering we were her kids. Maybe not biologically, but in every other sense, Carlisle and Esme were our parents. A few years ago when Rosalie joined our family, they had hoped Rosalie would be my mate, but we could barely tolerate each other. Which made us the typical pair of siblings. I had the advantage in that I could read her mind. She couldn't hide anything from me or surprise me, which was very nice for me.

"I was hunting, and Carlisle said not to do it around here. I didn't realize I was that far away until I ran back. Will he be okay?" Her concern was genuine, and that perplexed me. In the two years we'd lived together, I had never known her to show compassion towards anyone, or even think it. I didn't think she was capable of it.

"Yeah, but it'll be a few more days. He's injured pretty badly. Don't worry, he'll be fine, Rosalie."

"Are we going to have to keep holding him like this? Is there nothing we can use to restrain him?" My voice was strained from trying to pin his arm. Although he was still human, this guy was still very strong. Also with him moving around wildly, we all had to struggle to contain him. It was especially difficult to do all that while trying to be careful. We didn't want to hurt him anymore than he already was.

"We can try, but he'll eventually break them when he gets stronger. Rosalie, there should be some leather straps in my medical bag. Will you please go get them?"

She nodded and was back in a flash with them in her hands. First, Rosalie helped Esme secure his feet, then each of them assisted Carlisle and I with his arms. Those helped a lot. Now we didn't have to exhaust our strength trying to hold him down.

"Do you know who he is?" Esme was looking at him tenderly.

"No. He passed out as I was killing the grizzly. I don't think he lived far from there, so we don't have to worry about anyone tracking him here."

"Why did you bring him back?" I asked quietly. Rosalie's gaze bore into mine.

"I couldn't leave him He reminded me of a friend of mine's son." So that was who the little boy she kept thinking about was. It was the link to her human life. All of us know that Rosalie still wished she were human. I could tell from her memories that she had been envious of that friend. Rosalie saw her in a loving, happy marriage with a beautiful baby boy. To her that was the perfect life. Add money to that, and it was a utopia for her. I was seeing the human side to Rosalie, and it made me somewhat sympathetic towards her.

Rosalie stayed with him the whole time. I could see love in her mind, and that concept coming from her seemed foreign.. I didn't question it or begrudge her that. She was my sister, and if she could find happiness with this guy, then I was all for that. It would probably make Carlisle and Esme worry about me more, but I was used to that. At least they wouldn't have two kids to worry about. Who knows, this guy might actually do Rosalie some good.

On the third day, he broke the straps, and consequently, the bed. That was when his heart stopped beating, and he regained consciousness. The first person he laid eyes on was Rosalie. Let's just say the attraction was mutual, and he planned to do some ungodly things with her. I tried without much success to clear those thoughts from my mind.

"My name is Rosalie. What's yours?" She flashed him a smile that probably would have stopped his heart is it had still been beating.

"I'm Emmett. Are you that girl that saved me?"

"Yes."

"How did you do that? Why aren't you hurt, too?"

"We, my family and I," by this time the whole family was there, "are vampires. Now you are too."

Emmett didn't care what any of us were. All he cared about was Rosalie and what she'd look like without clothes on. I groaned on the inside because I knew I'd see things about my sister and my possible new brother that I never wanted to know.

"Does that mean I'm stronger and invincible?" I now saw why he had been messing around with a grizzly bear.

"Yes. The only things that can hurt you are werewolves and other vampires," Carlisle explained.

"Who are all of you?"

"We are the Cullens. I'm Carlisle, and this is my wife, Esme. Edward is our son, and Rosalie is our daughter. You are welcome to join our family."

"I think I'd like that." Emmett was eyeing Rosalie. I shuddered at the new wave of impure thoughts coming from Emmett and Rosalie.

"We do have a few rules though."

"Okay."

"You have to follow our diet. We only feed off of animals. No humans. You also have to clean up whatever you kill to make it look natural." Carlisle had explained all of this to me all those years ago. To many people, Carlisle would seem clinical when he explained things. But to those of us who knew him, we just knew he trying to make things clear. Especially if he was explaining something to keep the family safe.

"Yeah, now you can live out those grizzly fantasies," I remarked after seeing them run through his mind.

"How did you know?"

"I'm a mind reader."

Emmett reddened slightly at that. "So you've been listening to my thoughts the whole time?"

"Unfortunately for me, yes. I'm pretty sure Rosalie wouldn't mind to take you hunting and show you how to do things. But please leave your clothes on in my presence," I pleaded.

"That, my brother, we can do." Rosalie smiled at me and pulled Emmett out of the room. Carlisle and Esme just chuckled.

"Well, I guess Rosalie and Emmett have found one another. They look like they'll be happy." Carlisle seemed to be content at that thought.

"What about you, Edward?" Have you found a lucky little lady?" Esme was always so concerned about me.

"No, Mom. I told you I'm fine."

"I know, Edward. I just worry about you sometimes." Her and Carlisle left, leaving me alone. Watching Emmett and Rosalie made me wonder. I wondered whether there was anyone out there for me or not. I didn't think there was anything wrong with me, especially considering the way the girls at school thought of me. That couldn't be the problem.

I think it was just the girls. Maybe the right one wasn't in this city or even this century. I knew I'd find her one day; I just hadn't yet. I was going to be living until the end of time, so I figured I still had time.