A/N: Thank you to all of my reviewers! I'm finally done with finals, and I'm sorry this took so long, but I have to wait until I have internet to be able to post. I got a lot of great reviews for the last chapter, so I hope you like this one. I'm working on the next one already. Keep those reviews coming!

EPOV

She had only been gone for a few minutes and I missed her presence already. She fit right in with my family and closest friends, and it feels like she belongs here. I stood at the door until I could no longer hear the sounds of that noisy truck, and then I went up to my room. I flipped my stereo on and turned it up high. The CD playing now was of one of my favorite bands, Avenged Sevenfold. One of my favorite songs started to play.

Your hazel green tint eyes watching every move I make.
And that feeling of doubt, it's erased.
I'll never feel alone again with you by my side.
You're the one, and in you I confide.
And we have gone through good and bad times.
But your unconditional love was always on my mind.
You've been there from the start for me.
And your loves always been true as can be.
I give my heart to you.
I give my heart, cause nothing can compare in this world to you.

-Avenged Sevenfold, Warmness on the Soul

It reminded me of Bella. I don't know what color eyes she has, but that doesn't matter. I think I'm falling in love with her. I flopped on my bed and threw my arm over my face. I had never felt this strongly about a girl before. I shouldn't feel like this toward her. She probably wouldn't think twice about dating me, even if I did get up the nerve to ask her. The other girls I had gone on dates with were willing enough, but it was me that couldn't handle their inability to treat me as a normal person.

I guess that's one of the reasons I won't ever get up the nerve to ask Bella out. She's the first girl to treat me normally and I don't want that to change.

I groaned and flipped over so I was lying on my stomach, my face buried in my pillow. I would never be able to get her out of my head. I was so immersed in my thoughts of Bella that I didn't realize someone had come into the room until my sister leaped onto the bed. I knew it was her because she is the ONLY one that ever jumps on my bed. Edward is far too serious to ever do such a thing, and my parents would never do that.

"What, Ali?" I demanded, my head still buried in my pillow.

"Why don't you ask her out?" she asked, sounding serious instead of her usual chipper self.

"Ali, don't even start. I barely know her," I said. "Besides, I don't even know if she likes me."

"I'll find out," she said. "I'll talk to her."

"No, Ali. Just leave well enough alone. I would rather be friends with her than nothing," I told her sternly.

"Emmett, I think you should at least try. Bella's a really sweet girl, and she's perfect for you," she told me.

"Alice, please, I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," she sighed, "but if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you."

"Thanks, Ali." She left the room, the door shutting softly behind her. I sighed, my thoughts turning to Bella again.

BPOV

Emmett is such a sweetheart. He doesn't allow his blindness to handicap him, and he doesn't feel sorry for himself, which is a very admirable trait in my book. I had known a boy in Phoenix who was blind as well, but he's a very bitter person, and not much fun to be around.

Forks is already looking better than life in Phoenix had been. I have become good friends with Alice and Edward already, and through them, Rosalie and Jasper. I hoped I could at least be friends with Emmett. He seems like the type of man I would love to date, but I was his little sister's friend, so he would probably never consider it. He deserves better anyway. I'm not worth his time. (A/N: I have a reason for Bella being such a downer on herself, but it won't be revealed until later).

I pulled into my driveway and parked my truck. Charlie was already home, and it was close to dinner time. I opened the door and called out to him.

"Dad, I'm home!"

"I'm in the living room, Bells," he called back. I went in and stopped in surprise. There was a man in a wheelchair and a large boy sitting in the living room with my father.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello, Bella. Do you remember me?" the man in the wheelchair asked.

"Umm…vaguely," I answered truthfully. "Billy Black?"

"Yeah," he said, "and this is my son, Jacob."

"Jacob?" I looked at him for a moment, and recognition hit me.

"You used to throw mud at me," I said to him. He laughed and stood up.

"It's good to see you again, Bella," he said.

"Yeah, you too. Ch-Dad, what would you like for supper?" I asked.

"We were just going to order a pizza. It would be easier than you making dinner," he answered.

"Okay, that sounds fine." I wasn't really sure what to say. "Um…I guess I should go work on some of my homework for Monday."

"Okay, Bells. Jake, why don't you go with her? I'm sure she'll be more interesting company than us," Charlie said.

"Okay," Jacob answered, standing up to follow me. I led him upstairs to my room, pulling my school books out and tossing them on the bed. Jake took a seat in my desk chair.

"So what grade are you in, Jacob?" I asked him.

"I'm a sophomore. You're a junior, right?"

"Yeah. So, you go to the school in La Push?"

"Yep." We fell silent, and it was an awkward silence.

"Um…" Jake said. "I don't really know what to say." He laughed.

"I don't either," I grinned. We started talking about random things, and before we knew it, Charlie was calling up the stairs that the pizza was here.

***

I woke up Monday morning, having spent all of Sunday doing nothing, ready to go to school and hopefully catch a glimpse of the gorgeous Emmett. Maybe I would see him at lunch. The thought had me getting ready for school a lot faster than normal, leaving me sitting at the kitchen table for ten minutes before I could leave and not be ridiculously early.

I pulled into the school parking lot and parked my truck. One of the advantages to getting there early was getting a good parking space. I listened to the radio for a few minutes until I saw a red Mercedes M3 convertible pull into the lot and park next to me, a Volvo following closely behind, parking on my other side. Jasper and Rosalie got out of the M3, Edward, Alice, and Emmett getting out of the Volvo. I got out of my truck.

"Hi, Bella!" Alice chirped, dancing forward and hugging me.

"Hi, Alice," I said, laughing.

"So you're going to sit with us at lunch today, right?" Alice inquired.

"Of course," I said. As a group we walked to the building that held our first class. Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie split off to go to an adjacent building.

"So, Bella, you like my brother. We've already established that. Now, when are you going to ask him? Remember, you have a week." Alice said, as a statement, rather than a question.

"I remember, but I doubt he likes me at all," I said.

"How would you know? I think he likes you a lot."

"Alice, would you just leave it be, please?" I begged her.

"Fine," she huffed. "For now, we'll leave it be. But we will discuss this later." I groaned and rolled my eyes.

For the duration of the entire class, all I could think about was Emmett. I know she's right, and he could possibly be interested in me, but I could never be good enough for him. He deserves a whole woman, and that is something I have strong doubts that I ever will be. No one except Renee knows my true reasons for deciding to move to Forks, not even Charlie.

"Bella, come on," Alice said, breaking into my thoughts. I looked at her, startled. The class was emptying…I hadn't even heard the bell ring.

"Oh…sorry, I was daydreaming," I told her, gathering my stuff and pulling on my jacket. We walked to the next class, Alice eyeing me suspiciously the entire time.

EPOV

The morning passed by agonizingly slowly and I couldn't wait for lunch so I could hear her voice again. Finally, it was here. I hurried to the cafeteria and moved to my table, sitting down with Jasper to wait for the others. Alice and Bella have quite a few classes together, and Edward has one with her too.

"Hey, Emmett, Jasper," Bella said, sitting down in the seat next to me.

"Hey, Bella," I answered her, turning to smile at her.

"Emmy, what do you want to eat today?" Alice asked me.

"I don't care, go ahead and pick," I told her. Knowing her, it would be healthy crap—well, at least as healthy as Forks High School was able to get.

"So, Emmett, isn't Emmy a girl's name?" Bella asked. I laughed.

"Yeah, but Ali's been calling me that ever since she started talking, and by the time I realized it was a girl's name, there was no stopping her. Thankfully she doesn't do it all the time," I explained.

"Yeah, Alice gives us all nicknames, except Edward," Jasper spoke up. "Emmett is Emmy, Rosalie is Rose, and I'm Jazz or Jazzy."

"So why don't you have a nickname, Edward?" my angel asked my brother.

"Because the only nicknames for Edward are Ed or Eddie, and I refuse to be called by those ridiculous names," he told her.

"His snootiness is actually caused by a rare disease called Stick-in-Ass Syndrome. It is thankfully not contagious," I told her, my reward coming with her laugh.

"Shut up, Emmett," Edward drawled, his voice becoming lofty and superior.

"Oh, stuff it, Eddie," I grinned.

"Emmy, stop teasing Edward," Alice admonished me, placing food in front of me.

"Thanks, Ali." She kissed the top of my head and sat down, presumably next to Jasper. I picked up the first thing on the plate, a sandwich.

"Bella, aren't you going to eat?" Alice asked her.

"No, I'm not really hungry," she said. I frowned—it wasn't healthy for her to skip meals.

"Bella, you should eat regularly. At least eat something," Alice told her.

"Okay, okay, I'll get an apple," she said, laughing at my sister's persistence. I picked up the apple off my tray and held it out to her.

"Emmett, I can go get one," she protested.

"Yeah, I know, but you might as well eat this one. I'm not going to," I said reasonably. She took the apple from me with a thank you and proceeded to eat.

The rest of the school day passed slowly without her. I wanted so badly to talk to her again, but I doubt she feels the same. She's just so beautiful and perfect (A/N: he means beautiful as in a beautiful person, not physically, obviously) and she deserves someone as perfect as herself.

When the school day ended, I hurried out to Edward's car and leaned against it, waiting for everyone to come out. Edward and Alice soon joined me, Bella coming with them. "We're all going to Bella's house to do homework," Alice told me. "Do you want to come, or do you want Edward to drop you off at home?"

"I'll come," I said, shrugging, acting like it didn't matter either way, while on the inside I was doing a happy dance. I would get to spend more time with the angel.

"Good," Bella said, sounding happy.

"Well," Alice said, "Edward and I are going to run to the store for snacks. Jasper and Rosalie have to go home for a few minutes to help their mom with something, so why don't you to just go ahead and we'll meet you there." I knew what she was trying to do—give me alone time with Bella. I wish she wouldn't interfere, but how can I be upset about time alone with the perfect woman?

"Okay," Bella said. "See you at my house."

BPOV

Alice was interfering, even though I'd asked her not to…well, I suppose I didn't come right out and tell her not to interfere, but she knew it was implied. I guess I can't really complain, if the end result is that I get to spend even a few minutes alone with Emmett…yet at the same time, I hadn't been alone with a boy—man—in awhile. I shook the thoughts from my head and climbed in my truck, Emmett getting in on the passenger side. I watched everyone drive away before starting the truck and heading toward my house.

I had no idea what to talk to Emmett about, now that we were alone. He solved that problem by turning to me.

"So, Bella, I don't really know a whole lot about you, besides what Alice has told me. Will you tell me more about yourself?" he asked, giving me the cutest puppy dog face.

"Umm…okay, what would you like to know?"

"What's your favorite animal?" That was random.

"Um…a bear?" I blurted out. I had never cared either way about bears, but he just reminded me so much of a bear that it was the first thing that came to mind.

"What's your favorite food?"

"I don't really know. I like lots of food," she said. "I guess I like Italian food a lot."

"Okay, what's your favorite movie?"

"I'm a sucker for vampire movies," she said. "They're my guilty pleasure."

"I thought you didn't like scary movies?"

"I don't, but I like vampire movies that aren't scary…like The Little Vampire."

"Strange girl," he said, shaking his head. I giggled at the dramatic look on his face.

"Alice said you used to live in Phoenix before coming to Forks. Why did you decide to move here?" An innocent enough question, but one I didn't really want to answer. I decided on a half-truth.

"My mother remarried a couple of years ago, to Phil Dwyer. He's a small-time ball player so he travels a lot. My mother stayed home with me, but I knew she wanted to be with him, so I decided to spend some quality time with Charlie."

"Oh. Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you decided to come here," he said softly. I reached over and squeezed his hand. In another minute, we reached my house and I parked the truck next to Charlie's cruiser.

"Charlie's home," I said to Emmett. "I didn't think he would be home until later." He looked a little nervous. I got out of the truck and he followed. He grabbed his cane and came around the front of the truck to where I stood.

"There are three steps up to the front door," I said. He nodded and followed close behind me as we went inside.

"Dad, I'm home!" I called out.

"I'm in the kitchen!" I grabbed Emmett's hand and led him to the kitchen after he set his bag and cane by the front door.

"Dad, this is Emmett Cullen. Emmett, this is my father, Charlie."

"Nice to meet you, Emmett," Charlie said, holding his hand out to Emmett.

"Nice to meet you, Chief Swan," Emmett replied, not releasing my hand.

"He's holding out his hand for you to shake," I murmured to him.

"Oh." He stuck out his hand, and Charlie took it, shaking it.

"So, you're Doctor Cullen's son?" Charlie asked him.

"Yes, sir."

"Call me Charlie. So what are you two kids up to today?"

"Well, we're waiting on Emmett's sister and brother, and Jasper and Rosalie Hale. We're just going to be studying," Bella assured him. "Alice and Edward went to get snacks, and Jasper and Rose had to go home for a few minutes."

"All right, that sounds fine. Are you going to be in the living room?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, is that all right?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Emmett, let's go on in and get set up," I said. Charlie was still eyeing him suspiciously.

"Okay." Still holding my hand, he let me lead him into the living room.

EPOV

When Bella had taken my hand outside, my heart had tried to beat its way through my ribs. It was so soft and warm and tiny. Then she had introduced me to her father, and she still kept hold of it. It was hard to concentrate on talking to Charlie with her hand in mine. Finally we went into the living room. I don't really have school books because none of them come in Braille, so my teachers just let me tape record the lectures and type my notes on my laptop—which has a Braille keyboard—and all my homework is typed as well.

"Have a seat," Bella said to me. I felt for the sofa and sat down. She sat next to me and pulled her books out of her bag, setting them on a table, from what it sounded like. I had no idea what to talk to her about. I had never had a conversation before today alone with her. It was kind of nerve-wracking.

"It will be a few minutes before the others get here, so do you mind if I ask you a few questions first?" Bella asked.

"Sure. Ask away," I told her.

"What's your favorite hobby?" she asked.

"Um…well, I really like to listen to music I guess. Edward's the one with the musical talent in the family, but I have the largest collection. (A/N: I know Edward does in the books, but Emmett does in this story.) I also like to read. Dad has a shipment of new Braille books brought in every month for me," I told her.

"What do you like to read?"

"I'll read anything. I like adventures and mysteries for the most part, and the classics are always nice."

"Have you read Wuthering Heights?" she asked me.

"Yeah, but I didn't really care for it. The characters kind of pissed me off," I said.

"I think they're selfish, but their redeeming quality is their love," she said.

"Yeah, I guess that's the only thing they got going for them," I replied.

"Have you ever been to an amusement park?"

"No, there really hasn't been a reason for me to go. I can't see anything," I reminded her.

"You don't need to see in order to have fun at one. You can still ride the rides. I shut my eyes on all the roller coasters anyway," she told me. I laughed at her. She really is perfect. She confronts my blindness without being awkward about it.

"What's your favorite physical activity?"

"I lift weights."

"How much weight can you lift?"

"I'm not sure. I don't really keep track."

"Oh. Well, how did you meet Jasper and Rosalie?"

"Jasper has been my best friend since the first grade. He stood up for me when everyone else was making fun of me. We've been friends ever since. I met Rose through Jasper. Jasper and Rose stayed over night at my house one night and they met Alice and Edward, and we've all been friends since."

"I have to admit something," she said. "I'm a little envious of you. I've never had a best friend or even a close friend."

"Why not?" I asked her.

"I didn't because I never really fit in anywhere. I was kind of a loner."

"Well, you have friends now," I told her, reaching over to squeeze her arm. She laid her little hand on top of mine and patted it.

"Thank you," she said softly. The doorbell rang and Bella got up to answer the door.

"Hey, Alice," I heard her say. "Edward, Jasper, Rose, come on in all of you."

BPOV

When Emmett had said that about me having friends now, I was the happiest I've been in a long time. He is such a sweet man. I led Alice, Edward, Jasper, and Rose into the living room and they all took a seat around the room. The only available space to sit was the one I had previously occupied next to Emmett, so I sat down.

"So, what are we going to be studying?" I asked.

"Well, Jazzy, Rose, and Emmy are all seniors, so they're going to study together, and you, me, and Edward are going to go over our classes," Alice said.

"Okay," I said. "Does anyone want any snacks?"

"Sure!" the boys said. Alice and Rose rolled their eyes.

"Just like men to think about their stomachs," Rose said.

"I'll get some cookies," I said, laughing.

We studied for a couple of hours, talking about anything and everything, before they had to head home for dinner. I fixed Charlie some soup and went up to bed early. I had some serious thinking to do.

A/N: This chapter was hard for me to write for some reason. I'm not altogether happy with it, but I have some good ideas for the next one. It's almost finished, but I'm trying to add some length since I can't update as often. Review please!