Summary: Months after the rest of the Cullens' return, and during the her senior year, Bella finds herself content but wary. With her future to think about and Victoria out to get her- tension is no stranger. And what happens when Edward finally returns- but his presence only complicates things?
" We'll get through this Bella, because we have each other."
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Stephanie Meyer is the respective owner, I'm just fooling around with the characters.
" Be safe Bella. And don't forget to lock your window." Emmett said as he pulled to the side of the brunette's home later that evening an hour or so after the sun had set completely. It was getting dark out- particularly fast because of the whole Daylight Savings Time advent, even though it was really only six o' clock in the evening. He had taken her out to dinner after school- a tradition they had started every other day after the first time he took her to that restaurant in Port Angeles nearly a year ago- and he was just getting her home.
And to his knowledge now, Charlie seemed perfectly okay with it- as okay as he could be with it, he supposed.
But he and the chief, according to Bella- were definitely still on for the man-to-man talk.
" So you won't be stopping by?" She asked with a slight pout.
Emmett chuckled at the brunette and stared lovingly into her eyes. "Not.. tonight, sorry. But I promise I'll be there first thing after Charlie leaves." He promised sweetly.
Bella nodded and removed her seat belt, and leaned over after to seemingly just peck his lips. Bella however, seemed to want to cuddle longer than he thought, and chuckled as he pulled away with an amused grin.
" I love you." He told her with a smile, and she blushed. " I love you too. Tomorrow morning at eight?"
He nodded. " You bet. Goodnight Bella."
She bid him farewell, and he watched as she exited his jeep after grabbing her backpack- and slammed the door shut. He waited until she had opened her front door until he decided to drive off, but not before witnessing yet another clumsy scene in the act- as Bella almost tripped over her own two feet after ascending a stair on her porch.
He heard her mutter a curse as she opened the front door and pretty much half-slammed it behind her after calling out to her father.
Emmett smirked.
Yep, she was definitely adorable.
He drove away from the premises towards the place he called home, particularly in need of a good hunt. His hands itched as they gripped the steering wheel, and he squeezed it slightly, in angst.
He had all this pent up anger inside, and the best thing to get rid of it for the most part, was chasing innocent wild animals through the forest until he was ready to feed from them.
Yeah, sure it sounded evil, repulsive even- but it was better than actually going through with the idea of killing a particular adoptive brother.
Actually no, that didn't sound too bad to him either.
It would definitely save a whole lot of unneeded drama- with the redhead bitch lurking around somewhere.
That in itself already gave his family enough to deal with.
Emmett returned home soon after and parked his jeep in the driveway, where Jasper had been waiting for him. The blonde vampire tapped the hood of his jeep lightly as Emmett turned the ignition off and hopped out of his vehicle, stuffing his car keys in his pocket. He was a blur as he rounded the truck and met Jasper on the other side, who had nodded to him curtly.
" Ready?"
" Yep." The blonde replied simply.
" Edward?" Emmett asked then, and Jasper gestured towards the house with a solemn expression. " He's been brooding in his room as far as we know."
He wasn't earlier, Emmett thought with distaste, as he thought back to when he confronted the bastard that had decided to show up at school. " Like a fucking bratty teenager girl I'm assuming."
Jasper smirked and stifled a laugh.
Seconds later he was gone, and Emmett shook his head with a laugh and followed him into the forest behind their house.
Jasper always was competitive, which was why Emmett grew a liking to him in the first place.
And Emmett himself, would never back down from a challenge.
" I got this one!" Emmett barked out into the air as he blurred towards a particular target he had set his sights on. With a primitive growl, he leaped forward as the giant cat tried to run away, but gripped its sides with his hands, sending it to the ground almost immediately with his weight. The cat whined and thrashed around, clawing its way around him, but it was ultimately useless, as Emmett took that opportunity to latch onto its neck with his teeth.
He felt the warm blood pumping and his incisors sink into the flesh as he drank. He almost moaned at the sensation.
The wildcat by now seemed to be struggling noticeably less, and closed its eyes to welcome its predator.
Emmett could hear a laugh in the distance, followed by a particular Southern drawl as he heard something drop to the ground behind him.
" Well you're just pickin' them today aren't you?" Jasper said in a breathless drawl. " If it wasn't for me being able to feel their emotions too, I don't think I would have gotten dinner tonight."
Emmett had to admit, that ability did help Jasper quite a bit in that sense.
That's why if you weren't careful and acted fast, he'd used that power against you and gather most of what there was to feed on; but of course he never really showed this side of him during family hunts.
And especially not with his dear wife Alice, who also had an equally as benevolent advantage.
They make the perfect, ruthless duo if you're not careful.
" If I didn't know any better." Emmett said as he stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. " I'd say you were letting me, dear brother."
Jasper looked over to him as Emmett approached him with an eyebrow raised, and smirked- looking rather pleased. " Was it that obvious?"
The burly vampire chuckled. " Don't get too full of yourself Blondie."
He heard his brother chuckle at him as he decided to lean against the tall, poplar tree nearest them. He folded his arms over his chest and crossed his ankles, staring off into the distance as he sighed with now narrowed, topaz eyes.
"I'd like to think that... raiding this place was better than beheading the guy."
He had been thinking about doing that a lot lately... like he was on the brink of becoming one of those psychos that liked to kill for fun.
" Carlisle.. would be solely against it." Jasper replied with a tired sigh as he slowly paced along the small clearing.
Emmett nodded, expectantly.
" You know how he values his family, and he'd never want any of us harmed, no matter the circumstance." Jasper added.
"He'd always try to find another way." Emmett joined. " He's the only vampire I've met that is totally against violence."
" Truly. It almost makes you wonder- if he's always been that way. It's not unheard of for vampires to occupy the aspects of their humanity even after they've turned. In a sense I think it's just one of the perks of becoming a vampire." Jasper explained with a smile.
Carlisle never talked about his life as a human much- who only made Emmett wonder if he ever remembered any of it.
It was possible for some, like Esme, Alice, Rosalie and Jasper- because well, it wasn't long before they didn't have much of a pleasant life, and the last moments they spent as humans weren't exactly easy to forget.
"It's like you've never even died- and I mean, you never will either as long as you're careful. And then there's the drinking of blood but that doesn't take long to- get used to." He added, and Emmett bellowed as he laughed, lifting himself from the tree he had been momentarily leaning on to support himself. But of course if he had leaned on it entirely, he would have ruined the poor tree.
" Says the vampire that used to be downright dysfunctional around humans. That animal blood is enough for any vampire to want to make the switch at first." Emmett retorted.
" It is different, but once you've fed on animals for so long, it almost comes as second nature. It's only natural for us to be tempted, but I really don't miss the alternative. It's not worth it, having to kill humans- people that walk and talk just as we do, to quench our thirst that would only be gone for a few days at the most. Human blood makes you crave more often- and it's a mortifying process. It's like.. we're breaking the natural order of things." Jasper finished with a slight chuckle.
Emmett snorted and laughed. "And you think taking our fill from animals is keeping this 'natural order'?" He made air quotes with his fingers, which only made the vampire snort in dry amusement.
"I'd rather not starve myself." Jasper replied. "And we all know it's better this way, particularly Carlisle. It's why we were taught it in the first place."
Jasper was right. And at least with animals you could go a longer period of time without the blood.
Human blood made you want to go psycho killer on just about anyone. You couldn't go longer than a couple of days without the stuff.
"So you wouldn't want to be human again huh?" Emmett asked then with a smirk. " Live it up like you just turned twenty-one? Rack up that bucket list?"
Jasper chuckled. " Being human, it also has its perks Emmett. Like fertility for instance, but we both know that being immortal is like having the world in your hands. You're free to live however you want, and however long you want. At least, it's not nearly as miserably ongoing when you have someone to share that eternity with."
He got that right.
" It's.. a long time." Jasper added.
" Ain't that the truth..." Emmett trailed with a sigh as he looked up to the star-filled sky. They were exceptionally bright tonight.
And then, at that moment- his mind wandered to Bella.
Author's Note: Hope you guys liked the chapter! From this chapter on, the plot is going to start coming into play.
I only have about twenty-five chapters planned for this story, but who knows.
I have a lot I want to put into this story, so it might end up being twice as long as the last story!
I guess we'll just have to see.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you're having a lovely summer.
I appreciate every review I've been getting, but I would like to see more if you could. I'll still update though, of course.
Anyway, until next time.
Reviews make me happy.