Chapter 8. Would you kindly leave some love?

:)

xo

A

8.

Emmett picked up the discarded blanket and flopped down on the couch, draping it over his legs. Jake lifted his head from his paws and glared at Emmett, who in turn ruffled the grouchy dog's ears. The dog snuffed and turned away, making Emmett laugh. He lifted his damaged hand to and tried to flex his fingers, wincing.

"Damn it," he swore. "Guess I won't be playing for a while."

He already knew what would happen. Edward would tell Jasper, who would in turn laugh his ass off. Then naturally Jasper would tell Alice, who would then proceed to lose her shit and insist that the world was ending because he couldn't play guitar for a few weeks. He was mentally preparing himself for her wrath when the front door swung open, sending in a gust of icy wind and snow. Emmett's brow furrowed for a moment until Mike trudged in, stomping briefly before pushing the door closed behind him.

"Damn!" he exclaimed. "We haven't seen a blizzard like this in-" he stopped short when he saw Emmett on the couch.

"Oh. Hey man," he gave Emmett a quick nod. "Where's Rosie?"

"Getting my clothes out of the dryer," Emmett shrugged.

"Why are your…? Wait, no. I don't want to know," Mike shook his head. He hung his coat by the door and made his way into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and began to rummage around, and Emmett took a deep breath and pushed himself up off the couch, following Mike into the other room. He placed his injured hand on the open refrigerator door. Mike looked up and frowned.

"Dude, what happened to your hand?" Mike asked.

"Long story," Emmett said quickly. "Listen, Mike, we need to talk."

"Sure thing. What's up?" Mike stood, his arms full of Chinese take out boxes.

"Why didn't anyone ever mention Lauren?"

"She and Rosie don't get along, you know that right?" Mike placed his bounty on the table and grabbed an egg roll from an open carton.

"Yeah, I gathered. But that's not why I'm asking," Emmett sighed. "There's something you should know. It's about Lauren… and me…"

"Come again?" Mike frowned.

"See, we have a history," Emmett began

"Son of bitch," Mike muttered, his eyes widening. "You're him."

"Sorry?"

"You're Emmett. The Emmett." Mike started to seethe.

"I don't-"

"You're the reason she came here!" he shouted.

"What're you… who…"

"Lauren!" Mike bellowed. "You're the one who hurt her!"

Before Emmett could utter a word in his own defense, Mike attempted to tackle him, managing only to knock him back a few steps. Rose turned the corner just in time to see Emmett pry Mike off and the smaller man clench his fist. He may have been more than half Emmett's size, but Mike had a nasty right hook.

"Oh for fuck's sake! Michael, don't!" she shouted, dropping the laundry and sprinting toward them. She shoved Emmett back and turned just in time for Mike's fist to connect with her face. She cried out and dropped to the floor.

Without thinking, Emmett sucker punched Mike in the nose and knelt down by Rose, helping her to her feet. She clutched the side of her face and glared at Mike, who had grabbed a towel to staunch the blood now gushing out his nose. She pursed her lips and turned to Emmett.

"Did you just break his nose?" she asked.

"Yeah, probably," he shrugged.

"Probably?!" Mike snarled. "Look at me! I can't breathe out of it you fucking-"

"Shut up, Mike!" they yelled simultaneously. Rose leaned heavily into Emmett, still feeling dizzy from the force of the blow. He slid his arm around her waist, steadying her when she turned to face her roommate.

"What the hell did you think you were doing, Mike?!" she spat, then grimaced as a wave of nausea passed through her. She shook her head to clear it.

"You do know who he is, don't you?" Mike mumbled and pulled the towel away to check the blood flow. Satisfied that the bleeding had stopped, he put down the towel and reached out to check on Rose. She swatted his hand away and Emmett pulled her protectively against him, shooting Mike a warning glare.

"What are you getting at?!" she growled, then turned to Emmett. "What does he mean?" Emmett rolled his eyes.

"Seriously? You don't know?! Wait, wait. Of course you don't know. I mean why would he tell you something like that when he was looking to get laid!" Mike snorted derisively.

"You motherf-" Emmett advanced on Mike but was stopped by Rose's arm. She looked up at him and inclined her head slightly toward the couch, indicating that she needed to sit. He guided her over and helped her down, settling in beside her.

"Well, if he won't tell you, then it's up to me," Mike huffed. "This asshole," he pointed at Emmett. "This son of a bitch, right here, is the one who hurt Lauren. He's the reason she moved in here."

"You are sorely misinformed, my friend," Emmett chuckled without amusement "Evidently she's got her hooks in you. Your friend, and I use that term loosely, is a gold digging social climber. She uses men for money and status, usually multiple men at once to get as much and as high as she can. Then, once she either gets bored with them or they run out of money, she casts them aside for the next available sucker."

"Lies," Mike folded his arms across his chest. "She said you were an arrogant prick who slimed his way into her bed and used her for arm candy. And just when she started to fall in love with you, you freaked out and jumped ship. I can't believe I didn't see this sooner."

"Wow, really?" Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Just, wow. She's got you totally blinded! You don't actually believe her, do you?"

"And who should I believe? You? You're the grease ball who pumped and dumped her," Mike scoffed, doing his best to look intimidating despite his two black eyes. Rose squeezed Emmett's arm to keep him from getting up and breaking her best friend's jaw, knowing full well that's what he wanted to do.

"You're going to stop seeing him. Now." Mike stated firmly.

"Excuse me?!" Rose shouted and jumped to her feet, almost instantly staggering for balance. Emmett grabbed her before she could fall and made her sit down.

"You heard me," Mike snorted.

"That's enough!" Emmett yelled, standing up. "This is getting straightened out right now. Evidently Lauren has you twisted up in her web of lies. Whatever she has told you about me and her and our farce of a relationship is beyond false."

"You're just saying that because you broke her heart and refuse to admit it," Mike insisted.

"Unbelievable!" Emmett threw his hands up in disgust.

"And I'm not going to let you do that to Rosie," Mike continued, grabbing Rose's hand and yanking her off the couch. "Come on. Let's go."

"Michael stop!" Rose jerked her hand away. "You have no control over my life!"

"The hell I don't!" he shouted. "I promised your Uncle Charlie that I'd take care of you, and damn it that's what I'm going to do! I won't let him ruin your life!"

"Get over yourself, Michael!" she was beyond exasperated. "You only know what shit for brains told you, and everything that comes out of her mouth is a lie. Emmett is an amazing man with a beautiful soul. He's just the kind of person I could see myself falling in love with," she paused to take a deep breath. "And if I choose to see him, it is just that. My choice. There isn't a damn thing you can do about!"

"Don't count on it!" Mike spat. "He used Lauren and I refuse to let him do that to you." He snatched her arm in a vise grip, squeezing tighter when she tried to pull away.

"Mike let her go," Emmett demanded, fighting to control his anger.

"What're you going to about it?!" Mike growled, wrenching Rose in front of him. She yelped in pain. Emmett's fist clenched and he was about to smash Mike in the face when the door bell rang. Mike released his grip on Rose, practically throwing her into Emmett.

"Come in!" he barked.

Bella and Edward opened the door in time to see Rose stumble, grabbing on to Emmett as her head started to swim and her vision tunneled.

"Rosalie!" Bella shouted and rushed to Rose's side, throwing her cousin's arm around her shoulders and gently lowering her to the couch.

"I'm…I'm fine. I'm okay," Rose muttered, squeezing her eyes shut and opening them. She gently probed her cheek with her fingers, wincing when she felt the shiner forming under her right eye. "Yeah. I'm good."

"No, you're not," Edward contradicted and knelt in front of her. He lifted her chin and brushed her hair away from her face, observing the shiner and the broken blood vessel in her eye. Then he saw the marks on her upper arm and moved her shirt sleeve up. He glared up at Emmett when he saw the hand-shaped bruise.

"What the fuck is this?" he growled, then turned on Mike. "What the fuck happened?! Start explaining!"

"Mike hit her. And then he tried to use her as a human shield," Emmett answered through his teeth.

"Human shield?! I didn't-" Mike's statement ended abruptly when Edward sprang to his feet and grabbed the smaller man by the throat, pinning him to the wall in a choke hold.

"Edward stop, he didn't do it on purpose," Rose sighed, exasperated with the whole situation. "He's deluded. He thinks Emmett hurt Lauren and was about to punch his lights out. But I shoved Emmett out of the way, so he hit me instead." Rose pointed to her shiner. "Then Emmett hit him. I think his nose is broken. "

"Well that explains your eye," Edward responded with skepticism, giving Mike a shove into the wall before letting him go. "And his face. But what the hell is this 'human shield' business?"

"I told you it wasn't-" Mike shrank back when Edward glared at him. "a human shield." He finished in a mumble, rubbing his throat.

Rose studied her arm, the imprint of Mike's hand still red and very raw. She touched the marks gingerly and felt a shock of pain. She looked up at Edward, and then quizzically over at Mike.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked him. Before he could answer, Bella rose to her feet and walked over to where he stood glaring daggers at Emmett. She carefully took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her when she spoke.

"Michael. You know Lauren is prone to story-telling," she said softly.

"I know," Mike melted into her touch, but only momentarily. His eyes darkened. "But not about this. I can't let that happen to Rosie. I won't let him hurt her, Bella!"

"I see," Edward nodded. "I see. Mike, there's something you need to understand."

"Oh I understand perfectly!" Mike sneered. "That human piece of garbage broke Lauren's heart and ruined her life!"

"No, he didn't," Edward said calmly, holding up his hand when Mike tried to protest again. "But if you give me a few minutes, I'll tell you what really happened."

Mike grumbled as Edward started in on the story that had been retold going on three times that day. When he finished, Edward looked to Mike to gauge his reaction. He was rewarded with an empty stare.

"Mike?" he waved a hand in Mike's face.

"No," Mike blinked and shook his head, his voice trembling and barely audible. "I don't believe you." Rose could see the tears forming in his eyes.

"I know it's hard for you to hear," Edward said gently. "But it's all true. She's not the person you think she is."

"Liar!" Mike yelled. "She's…she's hurt! And he hurt her!" He pointed an accusing finger at Emmett. "My Lauren would never, ever do those things!"

"But she did, Michael," Bella spoke to him like a child.

"No!" Mike insisted, pulling away from her. "He's fooled you all! Lauren is too sweet and innocent. She's not capable of that!"

"But Mike-" Rose pleaded.

"NO!" He shoved Bella into Edward and elbowed his way past Emmett. He grabbed his coat and before anyone could stop him, he had whipped the door open and charged out into the blizzard.

"Mike!" Rose cried and ran for the door. Emmett snaked an arm around her waist before she could follow her best friend out into the night. She fought hard against him and tried to pry his arm away. "Let me go, Em! I have to go after him!" She struggled again weakly until she finally had to give up, physically exhausted from the night's events. She turned in Emmett's arms and leaned into him. He held her close, staring out the window into the snow.