Rosalie

5. Crimson eyes

Emmett and I spent many days like this in our forest and barely any at home with our family. As selfish as that sounded, we weren't ready to reveal our relationship to them, afraid of what they would think. It had to be a secret until we were ready. The only family member who knew was Edward. But that was un-avoidable. Living with a mind-reader had its problems but Edward knew that it was not his duty to spill the news. As annoying as he was, I had to admit, sometimes I didn't give him the credit that he deserved.

The sky was dull and boring, the day was overcast. "Lighten up Rose, please?" Em said, placing his arm gently around my shoulders. Emmett was always happy and that appealed to me, unfortunately it was something I lacked and something that he had a little too much of. I suppose we complete each other. I smiled at this thought. "I'm sorry." I said and he nodded his head slowly. Always so forgiving.

Then I suddenly froze. That familiar smell that made me feel like someone was scraping the back of my throat with a razor sailed into nose. I felt the extra venom flow through my mouth. I could resist the scent of a human; I was just a little unsure whether Emmett could. I quickly spun around, hoping that Emmett would follow, but my relief when he did was short-lived. He froze and his head snapped north-west, to where the scent was coming from. I stared, mortified as his muscles coiled, ready to hunt. There was nothing that I could do. If I dared to interrupt his hunt, he could automatically turn on me and rip my head off just as easily as he did to the bear a couple of weeks back. When a newborn vampire catches the scent of human blood, they are ruled by it and will dispose of anything that gets in the way of them and their prize. We were so much more like animals than humans.

"Emmett." I barely whispered but it would have been loud enough for a vampire to hear me. He didn't even notice that I had said a word. I heard a low snarl slip from between his razor sharp teeth and suddenly he sped off at a run. I followed too but running at human pace, if he thought I was after his pray he'd turn on me. The smell was getting closer and I felt useless and helpless. The blackness of Emmett's eyes showed how hungry he was and maybe if he wasn't so starving, he might be a little more reasonable. But judging by the colour of his eyes, there was no hope.

We drew close to a small clearing where a human man was wandering around aimlessly. He was lost. I felt so sorry for the stranger, what was he doing in this part of the woods anyway? Then I felt the terrible guilt. If I had bothered to check the wood as I was supposed to before Emmet and I left the house, we wouldn't be in this mess and he wouldn't be condemned to die a horrible, unnatural death.

The man looked middle aged, with shaggy blonde hair and he wore a large, green checked coat with a fir collar. Quite well off judging by the way he was dressed. Emmett crouched low behind a large oak tree, his body completely out of site from the man. I stayed as far back as I could and covered my eyes with one of my hands, just as Emmett pounced. I felt the piercing screams of the pained man. They didn't last for very long. I heard the birds rise from the trees and flee as fast as they could. I heard the slurping of the blood and immediately covered my nose with my free hand.

I parted my fingers slightly and stared between them. Emmett was looking at me with a pained face. "I'm so sorry." He mouthed. His newly crimson eyes stared into my own ones and I shuddered at the colour. He noticed this and turned away, ashamed.

I made my way towards him and wrapped my arms tight around his shoulder. "We've all made mistakes." I soothed. I was surprised to see him shake his head.

"No," He said, "You haven't." Well, he had a point. As close as I had been, I had never tasted human blood before in my life or existence. "I mean, what am I going to tell Carlisle? He was so proud of me." he whispered.

"I think he'll see for himself," I said, gesturing towards Emmett's eyes, "That should make it easier." Emmett nodded solemnly and rose to his feet, helping me up with him.

It was short journey home. We ran all the way as Emmett was eager to get it over and done with and we didn't so much as utter a word to each other on the way. We walked through the door to find Esme stood in the door frame of the kitchen, awaiting our return. When she saw Emmett she gasped, the bowl in her hands shattered and one million tiny shards of glass were scattered across the wooden floor. Hearing his wife's distress, Carlisle flew down the stairs and froze on the middle step staring. Soon Edward joined us, and the whole family was watching, wide-eyed in shock.

"What on earth happened son?" Carlisle asked, approaching us cautiously. He placed a hand on Emmett's shoulder but faced me, expecting me to speak. "It was my fault," I began. I saw Emmett's shoulders stiffen and I put my hand up to silence him, before he opened his mouth to speak. "I failed to check if there were any humans around and once he caught the scent, I was unable to stop him." There it was; that terrible guilt again. "Oh Rosalie." Esme murmured. She was so disappointed with me, it was almost unbearable.

After a small talk with Emmett, Carlisle and Esme proceeded up stairs and went into their own room to talk about it alone. I dreaded to think of what would happen next, but I was prepared for whatever was coming our way, and I would stand by Emmett no matter what. I settled on the seat with Emmett and took his hand in mine since Edward was the only one here other than us. "So when are you going to tell them about you two?" Edward asked casually, but I could sense the tenseness in his voice. I shuddered; I didn't even want to consider that right now. I simply shook my head and buried it in Emmett's shoulder. "They won't be upset? Far from it." He pressed. There was something in Edwards's voice that I didn't recognise, jealousy? No. Well...Maybe Edward is feeling a little left out. I grinned at this thought. But surely Carlisle and Esme would be disappointed.

Oh well, disappointed or not, we were not ready to tell them yet. I heard Esme and Carlisle end their conversation and I quickly kissed Emmett on the cheek before slipping my hand out of his, and sitting up straight next to him.

"Right," Carlisle began, "You're mother and I have come to the conclusion after a long conversation that Emmett should remain in the house for the rest of his time as a newborn." I felt my heart sink at Carlisle's words and my eyes widened. That was for half a year! How could I go for half a year without being able to be alone with the man loved? Impossible.