Pale red lips...
Skin like cream...
Scent like flowers...Bella.

"EMMETT!" her voice shattered the quiet.

I jumped off the bed in my shock. "What?!" I gasped. I looked up wide eyed at Rosalie, feeling extraordinarily alert suddenly. I had a nagging tug in the back of my mind, and I realized I felt guilty. Guilty?

"We're waiting! Remember? It's five." she said, looking at my facial expression with a questioning look. "What's the matter Emmett, you look...troubled."

"Me? I uh...no, nothing. I mean, no, nothing's troubling me." I threw on my usual grin, getting control of myself again."Nothing troubles me, except things I can't chase and games I can't win."

Rosalie rolled her eyes and turned around to head out the bedroom door. As she exited the room, expecting me to follow, she called over her shoulder, "Let's go, everyone's waiting, and Esme isn't feeling particularly patient."

"I'm coming." I said. I grabbed the wrapped box off the table and jumped the stairs four at a time.

Esme yelled from the car, "Emmett!"

Sighing I said "Sorry." Just loud enough that I knew she'd hear, along with everyone else waiting in Carlisle's car. Bella had found out about Carlisle's birthday and decided that since Alice had made her suffer through not only a birthday party, but also a graduation party last year, that it was only fitting that we begin celebrating all of our own birthdays. It was a pain and I had been giving her a hard time about it, but apparently Alice had rubbed off on her already. She was being unusually stubborn about the whole idea.

We were forced to hold it at the Hospital, because Carlisle had arranged a weekend rotation for himself, and couldn't get out of it. We had a quick hour in which to visit with him. Give him his gifts, visit, laugh and then get back home to our nice cozy lives. Being out for the summer, meant no worries for a couple months still.

When we arrived at the hospital, everyone filed out of the cars and inside. Carlisle was very amused by all of us showing up. Esme told him it would just be her. He was having a great time with the whole thing. Bella took everyone's gifts and carried them over to Carlisle. As she took Jasper's, their eyes met, and I felt something strange in the air. Whatever it was made me feel on edge, and must have made everyone else feel the same, because Edward frowned at Jasper. Bella frowned for a milli-second at him too, and turned around. Alice was watching Carlisle and didn't seem to see anything. Rosalie was too busy rolling her eyes over the whole night to pay attention to anything.

Bella set the presents in her arms down, and then surprising me, she whipped around to me and held her hand out. I looked at her and just stared, what was wrong with me? Why was I staring at Bella? But her brown eyes were so alive, and her lips..."

"Emmett?" Bella's voice said. I looked up from her lips again and into her eyes, When I looked into them, Bella tilted her head down indicating my hand, raised an eyebrow at me pointedly and said, "Emmett? Give me the gift?" I looked at my hand and suddenly everything sped up and I realized she was trying to get my gift for Carlisle. "Oh.." I chuckled, "Sorry."

She chuckled, and rolled her eyes at me, "Silly." she said, turning back to Carlisle she leaned over the table to place our present next to Carlisle's others which he had pulled to him. I looked down and saw her shirt lift up above the waist of her jeans, baring the pale skin behind it. I pictured suddenly how her whole back would look uncovered, when something hit me in the back of the head. My head rocked forward and glaring, instinctively ready to strike back, I turned around to find Edward glaring darkly at me. My eyes widened in horror, I glanced at Bella, shook my head to clear it and looked back at Edward apologetically and held my hands up in surrender. "Sorry man." I whispered. He tilted his head in acceptance, sighed deeply and turned back to watch Carlisle opening his gifts.

I turned forward and noticed Jasper glaring at me too. What the hell? It was time to get away from the table. I leaned over to Rosalie, "I've got something in my fingernails from earlier. I'll be right back." I said. She looked at me like a kid she couldn't take anywhere, and nodded as I walked away. I made sure I was gone long enough that everything was finished when I got back. Everyone was giving Carlisle final hugs of Happy Birthday and filing back out again. I gave Carlisle my best, and then turned to follow everyone else out.

We waited for Esme to pull around with Carlisle's car, Bella and Edward walked off in the direction of Edward's car. I was on the curb with, Rose next to me, and Alice and Jasper behind us, Alice was yakking away about what Bella should do for Edward's birthday, since his was next, to Rosalie who was nodding and grunting where appropriate. Suddenly I could feel that edgy feeling again, and when I looked up I saw Bella turning back to look over Edward's shoulder at me. I heard Alice go quiet, and then a sharp intake of breath from behind me. When I turned to look behind me Rosalie was looking at Bella sternly, and Jasper was looking at her with something else. Alice suddenly went quiet and she looked up and to the side at Jasper, narrowing her eyes at him. "Jasper!" She growled out. His head yanked around and looked her in the eyes. His whole body sagged, and his eyes dropped to the ground. "Sorry, Alice. I-"

Alice glared at him, as he started to speak then held her hand up between them. "Whatever Jasper. I don't want to hear it."

He looked away from her while dropping her hand, and gasping she turned back to face him again, challenging him with her eyes, she reached out and snatched his hand back into hers. They looked at each other, fiercely, and I realized that feeling, that edginess had gone. Esme came up at that moment in the car.

We climbed in, I ended up in back with Jasper, Alice between us.

As we began to drive I realized I was getting instant replays from my brain. Why wouldn't it just shut off already. Here I was again, seeing the black patterned material of the shirt, as it climbed just above Bella's jeans, and that soft, beautiful light colored skin peeking out beneath it. I could almost feel how soft her skin would be to touch. I turned my head to stare out the window, and a quick mix of different images of Bella flashed through my head. I pictured her pale red lips being very close to my own face. I could see her eyes, wide, wondering. I felt my eyes close as I thought about how she'd smell if I leaned closer to her, the last image popped into my head...kissing Bella. I grabbed my forehead in both hands and moaned, leaning forward trying to stop what I was seeing. When I sat up and dropped my hands, Rosalie, Alice and Esme had all turned frightened eyes to me.

I felt my eyes go wide. I thought I'd better think of something to explain my moan. It had been long enough and I knew my eyes were dark, so I went for it. "Sorry, I - I just need to hunt, and thought I smelled a grizzly back there." I got two eyerolls, one head shake, and one glare. The glare was coming from Jasper. I growled low in response to the look he was giving me. His eyes widened and he looked totally surprised at my reaction. He must have made the face unconsciously. Alice looked back and forth between us, shook her head and folded her arms across her chest. Jasper and I both took in her posture, glanced at each other, and went to looking out the windows until we pulled up to the house.

I jumped out of the car and sailed upstairs, Bella and Edward were already home and I wasn't going to sit around Bella if I didn't have to. This was ridiculous, these thoughts I was having. Rosalie was all I needed. Why was this happening?

Later that night I was sitting downstairs when it hit me again. I was playing games on the tv, when it struck me that I hadn't see what was happening on the screen for quite awhile, when one of my guys squealed after being killed on the game course. I'd slipped into another moment..and was seeing the strangest things I could ever imagine doing to her. My thumb on her bottom lip, pulling it down then sliding my hand to cup her face and leaning down until my lips were on Bella's pale red ones. I was struck in the back of the neck by a solid flying object. I rolled off the couch and the force of the momentum of whatever had hit me ended up slamming into the TV. I jumped up into a crouch and hissed, when I looked around, it was Edward.

"Emmett, I see what you're picturing and I'd like to know wh..." he trailed off as his eyes went wide. He made a horrible face, then growled viciously and crouched down.

That was it, he was not going to pull this stuff with me and get away with it. I was fine with him wanting to explore the human world, but when he starts bringing the problem to me, Emmett draws the line! "Yah, so. I'm just picturing, do you think you can stop me? Newsflash little brother, you can't. Back off Edward, I mean it! You can read my mind, but you can't control it."Edward looked at me in shock, as though he'd forgotten I was there.

He stood up to his full height and smiled. "I'm sorry Emmett, it's not you, it's Jasper." he said. Saying that, he turned around and disappeared. What was with everyone giving me that line about Jasper. What did he mean by that? What was going on with everyone?