So it's been forever, I know. Not my fault... Anyway, please enjoy this depressing chapter, and this story will be updated more often starting soon, because Learning, Trusting, Loving is almost over. Sad. Anyway, I don't own Twilight.

That night, after a tearful call from an exhausted Bella, Daddy drove down to their home. Jasper called me and told me Vicky had done likewise. Hopefully with the mediation of the two, some sort of understanding could be reached.

Sadly, that was not the case. There had been more than a disagreement. There had been an action taken that ultimately ended all hope of a reparation.

The Swan twins were late for school. At lunch, no one spoke. Bella's eyes were slightly red, and Emmett had an unreadable expression on his face. That afternoon, we went to my house. Edward, Jasper, and Rosalie led Bella into Edward's room, attempting to brighten her up with music. No one objected when Emmett and I retreated to my room to be alone.

I sat on my bed after kicking off my shoes and looked expectantly to Emmett. He sat next to me and looked at his lap, finally letting his face relay his emotion. His expression became torn and a look of pure anguish graced his handsome face.

"She left this morning," he said. "That's why we were late for school."

I squeezed my eyes shut. "Emmett…"

"Alice," he whimpered, wrapping his arms around my waist.

I stroked his hair, pulling his head down to my shoulder. He buried his face in my neck, crying for real, something I'd seldom seen him do. I held him, murmuring sweet nothings to him. I knew nothing more than that Renee had left, had done this to my Emmett, to Bella, to Charlie. I also knew that my sky blue baby-doll top was being stained by his tears, and that for once, I didn't care that my flawless ensemble was being ruined.

"I wish I could change it," I said softly, fighting my own tears.

"I wish she didn't lie for so long," he said, his voice scratchy with tears. "She hates it here. She didn't want to be here for so long. She's been talking to an old friend from Arizona, and she's moving in with him."

I choked back a sob. No Renee? No bright, adoring, loving woman that had made the muddy yellow walls of the Swans' tiny kitchen seem like the brightest rays of sunshine? "Oh, Emmett…"

He pulled himself up and pulled me in for a hug, holding me tightly. His lips found mine and moved against them feverishly. I let him hold and kiss me like he needed. And when he needed to cry again, I held him again, sharing his pain. Emmett was tough, seemingly indestructible. He had an air that defined him as a manly man, no softness at all. But to those he trusted, his rough exterior was just a layer. He was funny, sweet, understanding, sensitive, romantic, and simply one of the most amazing people you could ever be blessed enough to call a friend. But now, he was showing me an interior layer seen by very few. He was showing me that he was breakable, that his heart was breaking from his mother's leave and seemingly unfaithfulness. Whatever façade he'd held at school was gone. This was raw, emotional, pure Emmett, and I knew in my heart that I loved him and wanted to be there for him no matter what. How to let him know was another story…

Bella and Emmett stayed at our house that night. Jasper and Rosalie stayed until ten, very late for a school night. Charlie stayed at the station, and Mother brought him dinner. She wouldn't even tell us his condition. She just said he'd asked if Emmett and Bella could stay at our home, or if one of my parents could stay with them at theirs. That night, the Swan twins curled up in one of the king sized guest beds, holding hands and crying themselves to sleep. I longed for some control, any control, to make my friends not broken.

Thursday night, the Swans stayed at their own home. I talked with Emmett via cellular until he fell asleep at eleven, worn out from pure exhaustion. I laid awake for a little while, then trekked down the hall to Edward's room. He was lying on his bed, his formerly broken leg (which had a tendency to get sore at night) propped up, reading an old novel of no interest to myself. He said nothing when I crawled up his gold bedspread, then laid down on my side facing him. He remained silent, absorbed in his reading as he let his free left arm encircle my shoulders, allowing me to use his upper arm as a pillow.

"I'm worried, too, sister," he mumbled, practically reading my mind. Not that the expression on my face didn't give away my emotion, but he hadn't exactly looked at me.

"So what do you know?" I asked.

"Bella opened up after a little while," he said. "She told us everything."

"So are you gonna tell me?" I asked, looking expectantly into his face.

"Didn't Emmett?" he asked, looking at me confused, setting his book facedown on his stomach.

I made a face. "You really think he could? Bella's not like Renee; Emmett's practically her in male form. How would you feel if a part of you just up and left?"

Edward contemplated that for a moment. "I guess he wouldn't exactly feel up to that, I guess. I just thought since you were hiding in your room for so long…"

"He was…" I looked for the right wording. I didn't want to betray my silent promise not to reveal his heartbroken release. "He was in a more physical mood. He needed to be close to me."

Edward made a face and I had to hurry to correct my wording.

"I mean," I said, trying to make the smirk on my brother's face go away, "he just wanted to be near someone. He just needed someone to hold him and I was there. He can't exactly bounce back from this. He does have to ability to be emotional, contrary to popular belief."

Edward's turn to be on the defense. "We don't think he's a total airhead, he just isn't serious about much. How am I supposed to know what he'd be serious about? You're the one he's closest to in the world, practically."

That you know of… "Well, he was seriously torn up over this."

"I just thought he'd have told you," Edward defended.

"Well, he didn't," I said. "Now what did Bella tell you?"

He sighed and relayed the information Bella had given him, choosing not to press my patience.

Bella's POV

"Charlie!" the voice my mother spat. "You know I never wanted this!"

"You wanted the perfect four person family, Renee," my father said. "You got it."

"I wanted freedom, too," she said fiercely.

They didn't think I was awake. I would have gone to Emmett's room if it wouldn't tip them off. I almost texted him, but on the off chance he was asleep, I didn't want to alert him to the argument. They were supposed to have stopped arguing years ago… I wanted more than anything for them to stop. As always, my mother was complaining about Forks, and my father was trying to remind her that she made her own choices.

"Renee, you can't have both! You can be a responsible mother or you can go gallivanting off to do whatever you want," Dad said. "Not both."

"Why not?" Mom said, loud enough that I would have woken up had I been asleep. "Why can't you loosen up? Why aren't you fun anymore? In college you were so much more energetic and romantic! Now you're so stiff and boring! What happened?"

"You gave birth to our children!" my father practically yelled. "We have responsibilities. And if you hated it here so bad why didn't you want to move before we got married?"

"I thought it would be fun! I grew up in a big city, I though a small town would be a relief from the speed and haste, but I've been homesick for the rush for far too long," she said. She said something I couldn't make out quieter, but whatever it was, it made my father's temper explode.

"How long?" he yelled. "How long have you been up to this?"

Emmett came through my open door at that moment panting, looking terrified. "What did she say?"

"I don't know," I whispered. I stood and hugged my brother, trying to block out the sounds of the fighting and comfort him at the same time.

There was a rain of glass on the floor, shattering as it impacted what seemed to be the wall. Emmett gripped me tightly, chanting to himself softly, "just a disagreement" over and over.

I let him go. "I'm calling Carlisle."

"No!" he insisted. "It's just a disagreement."

"Emmett," I sighed. I had to be the big sister, the responsible one, and I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't force him to suffer again. "Go back to your room, try to sleep, okay?"

He nodded reluctantly. When the door closed behind him, I broke down in tears. I couldn't listen to them fight for another night. Two weeks, they'd been keeping me awake at all hours.

I reached for my cell, dialing the first contact on my list.

"Al-Alice?" I choked when she answered.

"Bella?" she said worriedly. "Bella what's wrong?"

"They're fighting," I whimpered. "It's really bad."

"Hold on a minute," she said. I heard the unmistakable sounds of her feet on the hardwood floors of Cullen manor. "Mother, Daddy!"

The muffled voices of Carlisle and Esme Cullen reached my ears, then Carlisle spoke to me. "I'll be there in ten minutes, dear."

Esme, Edward, and Alice spoke reassuringly to me for a few minutes, then the unmistakable Mercedes appeared on my street. I snuck downstairs to open the door. Carlisle gave me a fleeting -but reassuring- hug and darted up the stairs, where the argument was growing louder and more physical. A minute later, the doorbell rang and Vicky Hale was soon running up the stairs as well. I hadn't called her… I ran up to Emmett's room and found him on the floor, leaning against the wall, a look of deep concentration on his face. He had his phone in his hand, and I knew he'd called or texted one of the Hales.

"Twin telepathy?" he offered weakly. I would never understand how the fighting affected him so much more than me.

"I guess," I said, sitting next to him. "Have you caught anything else?"

"Mom's rushing off at random?" he said. "Yeah, she was rushing off to call a friend living in Arizona."

"And?" I didn't understand the solemnity of his tone.

"And she's leaving us for him," he spat. "At least that's what I picked up."

I reached for his hand. "It'll be okay, Emmy."

He sighed, pulling his hand firmly away. "This isn't just a little fight, Bella."

Ouch, not even a 'No it won't, Belly.' It was a for sure 'No.' How much had I missed?

"Renee!" Dad was begging now, that I could hear. "Please, they're young, they need a mother."

"They can live with me, then," Mom said, seemingly passively. Had it escalated to that? That they were discussing arrangements? Ten minutes ago they were listing everything wrong with each other.

"I won't let them live with you and that friend of yours." He was on the offensive now. Go Dad…

"Charlie, you've known my feelings for a long time. I'll call everyday and they can visit once a month, or they can live with me." Mom was making plans, back to her normal self. Was she already so far over the fight?

"They're staying right here!" Dad said firmly.

"Fine," Mom said. There was a little something extra in her voice. "Let me say goodbye to them."

Footsteps, more footsteps, she must have checked my room first. She came into Emmett's room and sat on her knees.

"I take it you've heard the plan?" she asked softly.

"Some plan," Emmett huffed, looking away.

"I love you two so, so much," she insisted. "I'll call when I get there, and we can do something so you can come down. You'll love the sun and the city."

"Mom, we have to stay here," I said lowly. "Forks is our whole lives."

"You haven't lived, then," she said. She tried to scoop us into a group hug, which didn't work, since the largest portion of matter was being stubborn.

"Goodbye, Mom," Emmett whispered, looking away. "I love you."

"I love you, Mom," I said softly. "But I need Dad and Forks."

She forcibly pulled the hug together, declaring her love for us once more, then she was gone. Emmett and I sat in the floor for a while. I could hear -barely- my father's ragged breath, Vicky's soft words of assurance, and Carlisle's pacing. The alarm clock on Emmett's computer desk read three in the morning. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up and stalked out of my brother's room and into my father's. As I expected, my father had a few silent tears running down his face. I sat on my parents' bed next to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I heard Emmett come in as well, sitting on the other side of our father. Dad wrapped an arm around each of us, mussing Emmett's hair and dropping a kiss to the top of my head. I let out a strangled sound, tears suddenly bursting from my eyes. This couldn't be happening…

We were late for school. Vicky insisted we go to sleep at four, and we slept until nine. Carlisle, who'd instructed me to call when we woke up, asked if Emmett and I would like to go to school.

Emmett read my mind when he said, "We need to go, for something semi-normal."

Esme, who was giving us a ride and coming with us to sign in late, suggested we pack clothes for a night or two. We agreed solemnly, and we were at school half an hour before lunch. After school, Jasper and Rosalie pulled me along to Edward's room, where Edward played my favorite classical CD. I finally opened up to them, wondering what my brother was doing, how he was doing.

That night, instead of choosing one of the many rooms in Cullen manor, I curled up on one side of a king sized bed to be shared with Emmett. We faced each other, twining the finger of his left hand and my right. Confusion was my main emotion, confusion as to what was to become of my seemingly happy family.

A/N: In the words of movie-Alice (not as good as our Alice, but still pretty cool), show me the love! Cyber hugs for my reviewers!

~Sidney