Emmett was lying on his belly on the floor in front of the TV staring at the screen, his chin resting in his hands. This was practically a daily occurrence as the dark-haired boy absolutely loved watching TV - alone or with his siblings. It was their first colour TV, a Zenith roundie, and it was still brand-new. The old one had been a horrible joke, the colour and picture needed constant adjusting and then one day it mysteriously broke. Carlisle just couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, but then again he didn't care as all of them had been looking forward to something new.

Today Em had managed to get out of having to go to school, and so he spent the day with Jasper. Carlisle had deemed it a good idea for Jasper to have some company until the afternoon, especially now that he had decided to try to go to a party with humans but was still having doubts. He was sure that Alice had already assured the blonde boy, but Emmett was still the most laid-back and relaxed person in the house. Maybe his attitude would rub off on Jasper, and that would definitely be a good thing.

Yes, it wasn't a big secret that Jasper was despite his decision to go out still feeling very nervous and more than likely contemplating on deciding against it and postponing it to next year... or the one after that. He was too concerned for his family and felt that he was the weakest link, even though nobody else would ever see him that way. Unfortunately it was hard to convince him of what they were truly thinking when he refused to listen when it came to that.

It would break Carlisle and Esme's heart if he would really decide against going out because of his self-doubts, as they really wanted for their son to enjoy himself - and additionally their little Alice would be so incredibly sad. No, they wanted to support their boy as much as possible, and even though Emmett sometimes had trouble taking anything seriously, he was still a wonderful brother and the right person for Jasper to spend some time with in order to get him to loosen up and have fun.

"A horse is a horse, of course, of course...," Emmett sang animately, enjoying the show in a way a little child would enjoy a cartoon at 6 am in the morning.

Jasper sat on the couch behind him, quietly laughing as he felt his brother's joy about the show surge through him like it was his own.

That surely was more relaxing and entertaining than Edward's whims. Jasper wasn't biased or was down on his younger brother, but Edward could really ruin anyone's mood if he wanted to.

Just yesterday when he was about to get intimate with his wife, Edward had tried to disturb them with his music. Having some nice background tunes was actually adding to a romantic atmosphere and to be honest it was understandable that the boy would try to tone everyone else out, but naturally it always depended on the volume and the type of music.

Alice had spent more time glaring at the wall that separated their rooms and letting out little threatening – yet incredibly adorable – growls instead of focussing on her husband, so that in the end Jasper had decided for them to spend the night sitting on the couch in the living room talking to Rose and Em.

"Em, ssh," Jasper whispered in between little snorts of laughter, "you know Esme is a little annoyed."

And oh boy was she annoyed. This was the third time that Alice had warned Emmett about a pop quiz, and of course he would have failed miserably today as he refused to waste more time than necessary on reading books for school and studying. And before he would fail yet again, Carlisle let him stay home on this day so he could use the time catching up. But all Emmett had been doing for the last couple of hours was catching up on TV shows and new episodes and maybe glancing at his books lying on the coffee table behind him. No need to say that Jasper sent calming waves over to his mother, but let his brother be.

"Hey, don't tell me you don't like Mr. Ed," he laughed and looked over his shoulder at his brother, completely ignoring his remark. "It's a horse... you're Texan, you love horses."

"I like horses, I don't love them," Jasper pointed out while leaning back on the mossy green sofa and crossing his legs.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "If you had a horse like that, wouldn't you love it? That's ridiculous, Mr. Ed is cool!"

"And here I thought you were more the Flipper kind of person."

"That's Edward. I bet he wishes to be a boring dolphin himself," Emmett muttered, then started laughing when he heard Jasper cracking up. "I mean, why else is he refusing to join us this Saturday? He's a drag..."

"He said we shouldn't go either. That was rather strange... he was in such a bad mood and then told us we shouldn't go," Jasper told him with a frown, wondering what was wrong with the bronze-haired lad. "Maybe I should listen to him."

Emmett's eyes were impossibly wide when he turned his head to stare at him. "Listen to Edward and miss a cool party? Pfft, right."

"I never made the decision to go in the first place, so-" "So you want to listen to Edward," Emmett finished for him, then pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek before letting out a long sigh. "Shouldn't you trust your wife who can see the future? Or maybe trust us to handle everything, so that you can have a fun night out? I swear, Jazz, I need you, man. I spent so much time with just the girls and Edward in tow who, by the way, behaves like a girl as well, that I am begging you not to change your mind again. It's going to be great, nothing will happen."

"There is no guarantee that nothing will happen, Emmett."

"Uh!" Emmett exclaimed and rolled over onto his side, looking at his brother with bright eyes that let him know that he had an idea - probably an idea he deemed to be absolutely brilliant and perfect but that actually really wasn't. "How about I pick up some random person from the street and bring it here? Then we'll see what you do. If something happens," he said, then let his voice drop to a whisper before adding darkly, "nobody will ever know."

When Jasper just blinked at him, trying to figure out what kind of animals his brother must have been drinking lately, Emmett just winked and nodded his head.

"I won't take the risk."

"But nobody will know!" Emmett argued.

Jasper just tzked and crossed his arms over his chest, looking away.

"Hm...," Emmett muttered before snapping his head back around, showering his brother with his excitement once more. "Let's just make the decision... if Alice comes running home, we'll know that following through with this won't end well."

Jasper shook his head, his lips formed into a smirk he wasn't able to suppress as the idea was absolutely preposterous. "Emmett, that's really stupid. Nobody knows when she would have that vision, and maybe she'll be too late."

"Hm..." Emmett thought about it once more before his face suddenly lit up again. "Uh! How about I take someone... but leave the person in the basement? As soon as Alice is here, we'll go see the human and you can... sniff it and... pet it or something."

Pet a human? "I don't think so."

"I think it would work."

"And I think Carlisle and Esme wouldn't be happy to see you kidnapping random people and putting them in our basement for later. I'm sure that would only lead to you bending over Carlisle's desk."

"I would tie the human to a chair, of course," Emmett told him while rolling his eyes, sounding like he thought his brother was a tad bit daft. Of course he wouldn't just put a human in the basement and let it roam around. Pfft, that's stupid.

Jasper covered his eyes with one of his hands, shaking his head like he couldn't believe they were actually having a conversation like this. "Emmett."

He groaned, growing frustrated with his constantly doubting brother. "Oh come on, we'll just take another Scrooge."

"Emmett!"

Both boys started at the sound and stared in the direction the voice had come from. The only person that was home with them was Esme, and weirdly enough it had sounded suspiciously like her.

"Mom?" Emmett called back, but he suddenly sounded meek and not as confident as he had just seconds before.

"What did I just hear you say?" she asked from the adjoining room.

"I was just kidding, Mom, really!"

"I hope you were, Emmy. That wasn't a very good idea."

"You are right, Mom, it wasn't," Emmett said dutifully but rolled his eyes, then cracked a smile at his brother. "It was a brilliant idea," he whispered.

Jasper shook his head, but enjoyed his brother's presence and his glee. Today it became apparent that having a sibling home with him was almost like a blessing. Normally he was alone with Esme, but having her home had turned into a naturalness so that he barely felt her presence anymore. Usually she busied herself doing the housework like cleaning up and doing laundry, and she was always humming and feeling quite relaxed and content. Then she read or watched TV with him, but her emotions were so stable and felt so natural to him that they were like an addition to his own. Like a supplement, but nothing more.

Emmett's influence on a boring day like this was noticeable, and he couldn't complain. It was new, it was exciting, it took the boring daily grind away and made him feel more like having a social life - the social life of a teenager. Young and carefree, happy and a tad goofy... who wouldn't want that? It was easy and comfortable - a lot more stress free than having to worry about accidentally killing someone. Jasper snorted at the thought - as if a human teenager would ever worry about accidentally killing someone... haha.

But then he couldn't help but wonder why Emmett - who was a mere child in comparison to him and who had also fed on humans before - didn't seem to have any difficulties when it came to suppressing his thirst for human blood. The boy enjoyed this fake life they were leading, he loved everything a regular teenager would and he was always so much at ease that it was hard to imagine that he had ever tried the deliciousness that was real blood.

Maybe his way of hunting helped – he always looked for the biggest animals he could find, then fought with them for a while before he would sink his teeth into the neck and satiate his thirst with fresh, hot blood. The red nourishing fluid would be laced with adrenaline and he knew that it would be more satiating, at least it was that way with human blood.

Yes, Jasper thought, that's what I will do before the party. I'll catch a few animals in the forest, play with them and then kill them slowly.

A good hunt usually served to satisfy his hunting instincts, but he hadn't tried to play with his food before. Maybe that was the trick.

"How about we go on a hunt this Saturday?" Jasper asked his brother.

"Sure, I could use some deer," Emmett replied before laughing out as he had found a scene especially funny.

"That horse...," he mumbled while shaking his head, still laughing to himself.

Maybe I should focus on his and Alice's emotions while at the party, Jasper thought. Maybe it would distract me enough and make me feel at ease so that I really won't have to worry about any weak moments I might have. He really didn't want to let them down, and he really didn't want to let himself down.

The sound of a car coming closer to the house distracted him for a moment and he glanced at the clock on the wall to check the time. So his cheerful wife and his siblings were coming home.

Just a few moments later and he heard the front door open before a little black-haired whirlwind appeared right before him, kissing his lips and flinging her arms around his neck. "You had a good day! I knew you would have, Jazzy, you're excited for the weekend," she exclaimed with a huge smile on her lips. The smile dropped from her face not even a second later when she heard her moody brother enter the house, humming Mean Woman Blues, which made her roll her eyes. It was one of the songs he had played the night before and it looked like he was still not done bugging them.

Jasper felt his wife's annoyance and chuckled as he guessed that attending classes with Edward today might have stressed her a little. "Your day hasn't been as good as mine, I assume?"

She shrugged her shoulders, then sat down in his lap and leaned against his chest.

"And my day has been great, thanks for asking, Al!" Emmett remarked while glancing over his shoulder at the petite girl.

"I already know that, Em, I saw it," she told him with a giggle, making him grin.

When the door opened and Edward walked into the living room, Emmett's grin just grew broader. "Look who's coming home... it is the famous Mr. Ed!"

Yep, a short little chapter so we can jump right to the weekend in the next one! I just wrote this chapter and wanted to update now so you wouldn't have to wait too long. Hope you liked TV time with our two favourite Cullen boys ;-) Fine, I know you love Carlisle... he might be back in the next chapter, so don't worry! :D