A/N: So I got some cool ideas from some PMs from and serenade . for . the . obscure. and mrz . edwardanthonymasencullen and decided to try and cover some of the ideas they sent. Hope I did them justice and thanks for sending me things to use! You might see more of their ideas in future chapters :D P.s. I'll explain my sorta hiatus at the end of the chapter.
I do not own any of the characters. They all belong to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. I also do not own any songs or websites mentioned. They belong to their respective owners.
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Chapter 12: Oh, Emmett and Your Big Mouth
BPOV
I woke up in the bed feeling oddly warm, yet alone. I flipped onto my back, rubbing the crusties that had formed in the corners of my eyes. There was a thick, soft, Afghan blanket wrapped around me, but Edward was missing.
I looked around the room frantically, but immediately calmed when I heard the shower running. I heard a muffled humming noise coming from the bathroom. He was singing to himself.
I slipped out of bed, noticing I was still in just his shirt. I blushed at memories of last night's activities. I tip-toed over to the bathroom door and pressed my ear against it. I barely made out the lyrics to "Endlessly," our song. I smiled and listened harder, straining to hear his melodious voice. Apparently, the song had come to an end, since I heard no more singing and the shower shut off.
To avoid being caught, I ran back to the bed, throwing myself across the covers and quickly nestling myself beneath the blanket again. I shut my eyes, just as the door to the bathroom clicked open, but I was sure he could hear my extremely rapid heartbeat and quick, short breaths.
He padded out slowly, stopping just past the doorway to shut off the light and fan. I stole a peek and caught a glimpse of his hair glistening from the water droplets. Some of them dropped to his chest, sliding sensually down the marble skin, flowing over his toned abs, and finally disappearing into the towel that was loosely wrapped around his hips.
I quickly pinched my eyes shut, trying to keep from running to him and repeating some of our newest activities, maybe adding a few new tricks to the list. I heard him walking towards the bed, so I tried to relax my eyes and steady my heartbeat, which lurched out of time, when I felt the bed sag beneath his weight. He was sitting next to my stomach.
"You're a terrible actress, love." he said into my ear, chuckling under his breath.
I let out a disgruntled sigh, throwing my arms out of the covers and peering at him through one eye.
"And here I thought you couldn't look cuter." he said, leaning down to kiss me.
He smelled minty fresh, as his sweet breath fanned out across my lips. I immediately placed a hand over my mouth, making his mouth meet my hand instead of my lips. He pulled back and frowned, his brows furrowing together.
"Mrrng brff." I mumbled through the hand that still covered my mouth.
"Come again?" he said smirking and turning his head to the side, cupping a hand around his ear as if he was hard of hearing.
I let out another sigh and uncovered my mouth.
"I said morning—" I was cut off by his lips molding to mine.
His kiss was even more delicious than it smelled. He tasted like mint and marshmallow and a taste that could only be described as Edward.
"Breath." I finished, ironically out of breath when he finally broke the kiss.
"Tasted fine to me." he said winking and walking over to his dresser.
He opened up the top drawer.
"Oh. You can take a shower. Alice dropped off some clothes for you. They're already in the bathroom." he said, not turning from the drawer he was rummaging through.
I made my way back over to the bathroom again, but just as I was halfway through the doorway, I heard the distinct sound of his towel hitting the floor. It took everything in me not to turn around and steal a glance at all the glory that was Edward.
I walked fully into the bathroom and shut the door, slumping against it. I needed to keep my hormones in check before I ended up jumping the poor guy.
I calmed down and took a quick shower. I found the fluffy sweater and skinny jeans Alice had dropped off. The outfit wasn't what bothered me about the clothing laid before me. It was the underwear that was supposed to go underneath.
They were a deep, royal blue and all lace. You could see right through them.
I looked at the sad excuse for underwear contemptuously, but finally slid them on instead of going commando. Like these make much of a difference. I thought, as I slid on the rest of the outfit.
I walked out to the smell of French toast and bacon. I followed the smell to the kitchen. I looked along the wall, as I descended the stairs. It was covered in pictures I had never noticed before. They must've recently put them up.
There were several of a beautiful little blond girl chasing, hanging out with, and hugging my familiar-faced bronze haired boy. Even through the old pictures, his eyes shined like emeralds.
Further down the wall were two blond kids, a boy and girl, running around a farm and dressed in similar outfits. Next to some of those were more recent pictures.
There was a picture of a young girl hugging Edward around the hips, the only place she could reach. He looked not much younger than he did now, in the picture. He still had that ever-present crooked grin, but his eyes were dulled by the black and white development of the image.
I continued my journey down the stairs once I had finished inspecting the wall of family history. I saw Edward in the kitchen, in just jeans that rode low on his hips, exposing his lime green, checkered boxers. He was dancing to some unknown beat in his head, as he cooked the delicious bacon.
I giggled at the sight and made my way directly behind him.
I wrapped my arms around his torso, peering around his arm to see what all he was cooking. The bacon sizzled and popped, filling the kitchen with it's bacon-y scent. I saw a heaping plate, next to the stove, of several pieces of French toast.
"Feeding an army?" I asked teasingly.
"Feels like it." he chuckled and continued, "but no. Your friends are coming over for breakfast with Rosalie and Jasper. I know Emmett can eat. I saw him at Thanksgiving."
I chuckled and grabbed plates from the cupboard above the sink.
"When should they be here? I'll set the table." I said, walking over to their small, dining table.
"Well, Alice and Jasper have been here, but they went for a walk. They should be back in about 10 minutes. As for the other two, I heard from poor Jasper that they were up to late night activities, but not what you'd think." he said, shooting me a solemn glance over his shoulder.
"What do you mean, then?" I inquired, putting the last plate in its place.
"He means they were up yelling each other's name all night, but not in a good way." Jasper said walking through the sliding glass door, yawning.
"Jesus! What is it with you people sneaking up on me? I'm gonna have a heart attack one of these days and you'll only have yourselves to blame." I said, taking deep breaths to calm myself.
"Oh calm down, Bella. But basically they were arguing. Apparently Emmett made one of his boneheaded remarks to Rose and she blew up on him." Alice said, walking in after Jasper, stretching her tiny arms over her head.
"Leave it to Emmett." I muttered, placing forks next to each of the plates.
When I went to grab napkins, Edward had finished the bacon and was putting it onto a napkin covered plate. There was also a bowl of scrambled eggs I hadn't noticed before. He walked them over to the table and set them down. I grabbed the French toast and napkins and placed them on the table. Jasper went to another cupboard and starting grabbing plastic cups for everyone, while Alice pulled out the orange juice and apple juice.
Edward grabbed his shirt that was draped over a kitchen stool and slid it on. I frowned a little at him covering up, but the shirt was still tight enough for my imagination to take over.
We all took our seats, just as the door swung open and Rosalie stormed into the apartment. She was followed by a sulking Emmett, one I had seen many times growing up around him and Alice throughout high school.
I decided not to touch the subject, let them work it out on their own.
Breakfast was awkward, to say the least. Rosalie and Emmett sat on opposite ends of the table, making the rest of us feel like the kids in the middle of our parents fight. As soon as we were done, we cleared the table quickly, eager to avoid the tense air that had settled in the room.
While I did the dishes, Edward cleared, Alice dried, and Jasper put the freshly cleaned dishes away. Emmett sulked on the couch, while Rosalie fumed on a kitchen stool. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rosalie eye the pictures along the stairs, Edward, and then me. Her expression turned to sadness.
She met my glance and got up from the stool. I turned my gaze back back to the last few dishes, hoping she wasn't getting up to talk to me. She already didn't like me and I didn't need to deal with an angry Rosalie on top of that.
"When you're done, I need to talk to you." her voice came from behind me, tinged with sadness.
I turned to face her and met her pleading, blue eyes. I felt a pang of guilt in my heart for being scared of her.
"Sure, Rose. I'm almost done." I nodded at her, trying to take away some of the sadness, with the comforting tone of my voice.
She smiled weakly and gestured upstairs towards her room, as she headed for the stairs. I finished up the last few dishes and climbed up the stairs to talk to Rosalie. I walked into her room to see her sitting against her headboard, her arms wrapped around her knees.
"Hey, Rose. What did you need to talk about? No offense, but I thought you'd choose Alice to spill to, over me." I said, walking over to sit across from her on the bed.
"I need to explain a few things to you. I need to explain why I act so coldly towards you and why I'm mad right now. Well, I'm not actually mad, for starters, at least not at Emmett." she said, not looking up from her knees.
"Well I'm here to listen." I said, scooting on the bed, so that I was sitting next to her.
"In order to explain my behavior towards you, I have to explain my reaction to Emmett last night, first." she started.
"What did he say?" I asked.
"He said something that triggered a bitter memory from my past and I got scared. It'll sound stupid until you hear the whole story, but he said, 'Come to Papa. I'll show you a good time.'" she said, sighing and rolling her eyes.
I knew it was serious, so I tried hard not to even crack a smile.
"It's okay, you can laugh. I know it sounds funny right now." she said calmly.
I started to laugh, but quickly regained my composure, so that she could continue her story.
"When I was younger, eighth grade, we had a family friend, named Royce King. He was a sophomore and the most popular guy in high school. He told me that if we dated, I would not only be the prettiest girl in school, but also the most popular, before I even went into high school. Of course, I was much more shallow then, and I believed him. I wanted to be envied, more than I already was." she paused, looking ashamed.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and gave them a squeeze.
"One night, he snuck into my room. That's when he told me, 'Come to Papa. I'll show you a good time.' Like an idiot, I went along with him and he took me to his friend's basement. They were drinking and a couple of his friends held me down, while he and the others had their way with me. When they had all finished, they took me home, but left me on the front lawn, bleeding, exhausted, and with chunks of hair missing, where they had pulled it out forcibly." she said, starting to twirl the ends of her hair.
"Oh, Rose. I'm so sorry. I can see why it would have upset you." I said, rubbing circles on her left shoulder.
"In the morning, my mom found me on the lawn when she was leaving for work. I told her what happened and she gave me the morning after pill so I wouldn't have to carry any of the the jackasses' baby. We told the cops and Royce and his friends have been in both juvenile hall and jail, ever since. The night they were put away, we decided to move out here. We had already been visiting the Cullens on holidays and most summers. They were good friends with my mom's sister, Kate, and her husband Garrett. They had a daughter we used to play with all the time." Rosalie said, finally starting to lighten up.
I smiled at her encouragingly.
"I blew up at Emmett, because I was scared. Scared he would see me different. See me as dirty. See the ugly truth beneath the beautiful exterior. I did the only thing I've known to do. I got angry. I'm angry at myself for all those nights ago, but I make it seem like I'm mad at someone else to protect myself from heartache. I just don't know if Emmett would still accept me after I tell him, but I want to tell him. He's special to me and he makes me want to tell him everything so that he can love me completely, and I can love him completely." she said, a single tear sliding down her cheek.
I hugged her even closer, trying my best to comfort her. Her shoulders started to shake as she cried.
"I-I tried t-to play it o-off that I wa-was mad th-that he would tr-try to get so-something out of m-me, even though w-we have be-before." she hiccuped out.
I grimaced at the thought of them together, but luckily she didn't see that, so she continued on with her story. She managed to control her hiccups before she spoke again.
"The reason I chose to tell you is because this ties into Edward and seeing as how you're with Edward, you deserve to know why I act the way I do." she said, wiping her tears and turning towards me.
I looked at her, trying to convey without words that I was willing to listen to whatever she had to say.
"I had hoped, when we moved to Washington, that Edward could fix me. I never wanted him in that way, but I needed the male attention, since we were all home-schooled together. I needed to know I could be accepted, after what happened with Royce. That someone could still see me as beautiful and look past the massive flaws. Edward never thought of me that way, so it was difficult to feel like I was healing. I knew I hadn't last night, when Emmett's words upset me, and even before that, when I grew angry at you." she said, begging me to understand with her eyes.
"Rosalie. I understand what it's like to want to feel accepted. For a while, in junior high, I tried to fit in with the 'popular crowd' but realized they weren't worth it. They just wanted me to change who I was for them, but I was happy with myself. Not that that is anywhere near as bad as your situation, but still. Just trying to identify with you." I said to her, shrugging.
She laughed shakily.
"Bella. Now I really need to explain things. You aren't as bad as I thought. You deserve Edward and everything he feels for you. You see, I didn't like you because I felt you didn't deserve his love and acceptance. If he couldn't accept me as more than a friend and comfort me the way I needed, why could he accept someone like you? Treat you the way I needed to be treated? No offense is meant. This is just how I used to think." she said looking sheepish about confessing.
"None taken." I said, wanting to hear whatever else she had left to say.
"I realize, now, that you are worth everything he feels for you. You are a good person. Even though I treated you so coldly, you still came up here to talk to me and sat here listening to my whole story, never looking like you wanted to just leave or wanted me to just shut up. I thank you for that. I almost missed out on a great friend." she said, turning to hug me.
I was surprised at the gesture, but hugged her back. She pulled away, wiping away the last remnants of tears from her eyes.
"You know, Emmett is my first boyfriend since the incident. I refused to date anyone, afraid that they would only be dating me for physical aspects. But then Emmett came along. He talked to me like a person. He didn't simply drool over me. He made me laugh. He made me feel warm and loved, so I thought I had healed. I think I healed now because what I really needed, deep down, was to tell someone about it and to let Edward go. So I really want to say thank you for helping me, in more ways than one." she said, hugging me one more time.
She pulled away, sighing.
"What's the matter?" I asked, concerned.
"Oh, nothing. Just think it's time I freshened up and we go downstairs. I need to apologize to Emmett." she said, getting up and walking to her bathroom.
I waited for her to come out, not sure if she had wanted me to leave or not, but when she came out, she looked relieved that I had stayed.
We made our way downstairs and she immediately walked over to Emmett, where he sat on the couch, still sulking, and I made my way over to Edward, who sat at the counter talking to Jasper and Alice.
"So my Aunt Kate and Uncle Garrett are coming down today. They're bringing you-know-who." Jasper said to Edward.
Edward groaned and I walked up to rest a hand on his back.
"Oh. Hey. How's Rosalie? Everything okay?" he asked me.
"Yeah. Everything's fine. Better, actually. So anyway, who's you-know-who?" I asked.
"Jasper's cousin. She's had a crush on me since she met me. She's cute and all, but she's like 14 or something and I have you, so yeah. Kind of a pain when she visits." he said, sounding exasperated at the very thought of the visit.
"Oh. By the way, where's Jake?" I asked, looking at Alice and Jasper.
"We dropped him off at Sam's place before we came. Mrs. Hale dropped off Nessie to play with him. Kate's allergic and they're visiting Jasper's parents first. They'll be by here around dinner." she said matter-of-factly.
I just nodded and leaned on Edward. From my spot, I could see the stairwell and my eyes drifted to the pictures.
"Edward. Come over here." I said, tugging Edward's shirt as I tried to make my way over to the pictures that I had looked at so many times today.
"What is it?" he asked when we stood in front of the many framed images.
"Who is in all of these?" I asked, waving my hand across the air in a sweeping motion.
"Well, most of these are Rosalie and I or Rosalie, Jasper and I. Jasper didn't like pictures much, so he was good at hiding from them. Rosalie always dragged me in. It was annoying." he said chuckling, as his eyes glanced at each of the images before him.
I turned to the image at the end of the stairwell. The one that was recently taken with a little girl.
"Who's that?" I asked, pointing at the picture.
"That's Jasper's cousin. It was taken about a year and a half ago. I hear she's actually grown about a foot taller and developed more since we last saw her. She's blond though, and I'm into brunettes." he said, smiling, as he tousled my hair.
I smiled back at him and we walked over to the couch. Emmett and Rosalie looked happy again, cuddled up and all smiles. I was glad to see things had worked out between the two of them.
Alice and Jasper quickly joined us and we settled in to watch some of the classic Christmas movies. It was still two weeks away, but December was basically the month of Christmas.
"A Year Without a Santa Claus," was on. I used to watch it all the time as a kid.
We watched in silence, simply enjoying the time spent together as friends and couples, glad that the tension seemed to have cleared.
The rest of the day went on like this, watching movies, sitting on the couch, talking about random subjects. We only got up to go to the bathroom, move positions, or to have someone go make snacks for everybody.
Before we knew it, we were interrupted while watching "Miracle on 34th Street," by the sound of the doorbell.
"Aunt Kate and the fam are here. Get the door Jazz." Rose said from the couch, sitting up and straightening her shirt.
I sat up, following Rose's lead. I heard the door squeak open and turned to see who the new visitors were.
There in the doorway, stood a very tall, very blond woman with slate-blue eyes. Next to her was a tall man, with a friendly grin that crinkled around his murky, green eyes and long, sandy blond hair tied back in a ponytail. Between the two, stood a tall girl, about 5'7", strawberry blond, with a thin frame and icy blue eyes.
"Hello, I'm Kate Caelan." the blond woman in back said, meeting my open-mouthed gawking stare, with a warm smile.
I snapped my mouth shut audibly and scrambled up from the couch to greet her and her family.
"Isabella. Isabella Swan, but I go by Bella." I said, shaking her hand gently.
"Well, hello, Bella. I'm Garrett Caelan. Kate's Husband." the man next to her said in a jovial tone, pulling me into a tight bear hug and chuckling heartily.
He reminded me of Emmett with his actions and build, though he was smaller than Emmett in girth, not that Emmett was fat in any way. He was so outgoing and friendly that I couldn't help smiling back at the man.
The tall girl from the middle stepped forward, looking directly at Edward.
"How nice to see you again, Edward." she said, in a surprisingly young sounding voice.
The sound of her voice threw me off, but Edward speaking up brought me back to reality.
"Bella, I'd like you to meet Tanya. Jasper and Rosalie's onl—cousin." Edward said, from beside me, sparking curiosity with his word mix-up.
He placed a hand on my low back and all curiosity disappeared, as I focused on what he had just said about actually greeting the intimidating girl in front of me.
So this girl liked Edward. Why didn't he pick her? Geeze Louise. She's like a giant compared to me. I thought, as I looked up at the girl. Her strawberry blond tresses in light waves around her pale, angular, yet soft face. I saw how piercing her icy, blue eyes could be, but there was a distinct emotion in her that was hidden beneath the obvious friendliness. She looked much older than fourteen, that's for sure.
She eyed me warily before she stuck her hand out for me to shake it. She looked somewhat sad seeing the close contact between Edward and me and I realized she must have been upset that I was his girlfriend, though it was beyond me why he had picked me over her.
"Very pleased to meet you, but Jasper, who is the little girl next to you, and who is the large boy behind you, Rosalie?" she asked, shifting her gaze to the two still standing beside the open door.
Jasper seemed to come out of some sort of dazed state, as he ushered Kate and Garrett in, finally shutting the door behind them. He didn't even have to encourage Alice to introduce herself, as she skipped over to Tanya.
If I had thought Tanya had towered over me, it was hilarious to see how she overshadowed tiny Alice. Alice remained undaunted and her usual energetic self.
"Hello. I'm Alice, Jasper's girlfriend." Alice said, pulling her into a hug as best she could, catching the tall girl off-guard.
She pulled away and eagerly greeted Kate and Garrett in the same manner. Garrett seemed happy to meet someone with as much spunk as himself.
Rosalie ended up having to drag Emmett over to greet her family since he seemed to be acting abnormally shy.
"Aunt Kate, Uncle Garrett, Tanya," she said looking at each of them as she addressed them, "This is Emmett Brandon. My boyfriend."
She stressed the word boyfriend and both her aunt's and Tanya's eyes lit up. They must've been glad that she was finally dating again.
Garrett immediately clapped Emmett on the back.
"Got your work cut out for you, boy. She's a feisty one." he said, letting out a throaty laugh and a friendly wink at Rosalie.
Emmett looked like he relaxed, and smiled, as he shook Garrett's hand. Emmett then took Kate's hand and kissed her knuckles.
Kate looked happily surprised, giving that same warm smile to him. He followed suit with Tanya, who giggled and blushed.
When Emmett turned around, she shot Rosalie a thumbs up and Rosalie winked at her.
We all finally made it back over to the living room, settling down on the large comfy couches. Garrett's happy smile kept the room from getting awkward, as we all settled in to continue our movie.
About a half hour into the movie, Emmett's stomach growled. We all laughed at it since Emmett could've eaten an entire meal only 20 minutes before and would still be starving.
"So what's for dinner?" Garrett asked, turning towards Edward.
"Um, how's pizza? I don't really feel like cooking." Edward said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking sheepish.
I couldn't help but smile at how cute he looked and I leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
He blushed and I saw a flash of strawberry blond hair out of the corner of my eye. I turned in time to see Tanya quickly turning back to the television, looking embarrassed.
"Pizza sounds good. Wouldn't want to put you though too much trouble during our short visit." Kate said.
"I'll go call it in. Alice, can you search for the coupons in that kitchen drawer?" Jasper said pointing to a drawer, as he got up from the couch to grab the phone and phone book.
She followed after him, while I turned to face Tanya. I needed to figure out what was going on with her. And more importantly, what she was to Edward.
"So Tanya, tell me about yourself. How old are you?" I asked, trying to spark a conversation, with a potential enemy.
"I'm actually, um, fifteen. And a half. Usually that's the time to get a driver's permit, but I already got mine. In Alaska, you only have to be fourteen." she said, looking unsure of why I would want to talk to her.
"Oh really? I thought you were older." I said taken aback.
"Oh, thanks! I always think I look too young." she said, smiling wide.
I smiled back at her, knowing there was no way she could be a threat, due to her age alone.
"How's Alaska? Do you like it?" I asked her, genuinely interested.
"It's nice. But it's far from here, so I can't visit my cousins often. I get lonely. I'm just glad they don't live in Texas anymore. That was too far, even though we always visited them at the Cullens' anyways." she said, shrugging and looking more relaxed.
"How long have you known Edward?" I asked.
"About five years. The first time we got to actually come out to the Cullens' was the year before Jasper and Rosalie moved up here." she said, blushing at the sound of his name.
I smiled at her, the way an adult does when he or she sees that a little girl has a crush on the little boy sitting only a few desks away at school, but is too afraid to admit it.
"You're lucky." she said, twiddling her thumbs, not meeting my eyes.
"I know. But someday you'll meet your own Edward. You'll be just as happy as I am. Heck, you probably won't even remember Edward, you'll be so in love." I said, rolling my eyes and laughing lightly.
She laughed with me and met my eyes.
"You really think so?" she asked.
"Yes. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody." I said, giving her a wink.
She rolled her eyes and smiled at me.
"Anyway, so you said you get lonely up in Alaska. Have you ever thought about asking for a sister?" I asked her.
There was a sharp intake of breath behind me. I immediately knew it was Edward and I slapped my hand over my mouth, not knowing what I had said wrong.
"It's okay Edward. She—she didn't know." she said looking down and sounding sad.
"I didn't mean to upset you." I said, slowly taking my hand away from my mouth.
"I had a sister. Irina. She was my twin. She died when we were two. She had been weak since birth and lung complications finally did it." she said, looking solemn, unable to make eye contact.
"Oh. I am so sorry. I didn't know." I said, looking down at my own hands.
"I know. That's why I don't mind telling you. But hey, let's not make this visit sad. It's about meeting new people and visiting old friends." she said, wiping her eyes that had grown watery.
I looked up and smiled weakly at her. She smiled back and from over her shoulder I could see Jasper and Alice walking back over.
"Well, the pizza is on the way and—geeze, why do you guys look like your dogs got ran over." Jasper said when he looked at Tanya and me.
"Hey, not cool. I have a dog and that is a worry I have. But no. It's over. No more sadness." I said, trying not to bring the subject back up.
The one thing I loved about Jasper is he knew when to leave well enough alone.
"Okay. Well I ordered an extra large pepperoni and a large combination. That sound good to everyone?" he asked, diverting people's attention from us.
"Yeah." was heard from everyone sitting in the room.
The pizza showed up and everyone pitched in to pay.
We all joked and ate and watched more movies. It was fun meeting the "sorta family." When it came time for them to leave, I felt myself actually get sad and anxious for them to come back and visit.
"Don't forget to come back and visit us. It was really nice to meet all of you." I said, as I hugged them each goodbye.
When I went to hug Kate, I felt a shock.
"Ow! Must've drug my socks on the carpet too much." I said, giggling.
"For some reason, I do that a lot to people. It's like I'm full of static. I'm a big electric ball!" she said throwing her hands up in a dramatic gesture, smiling at me when her arms were back at her side.
I smiled back and hugged her again.
Everyone else took their turns and we waved goodbye one last time.
When I shut the door, I immediately went to the front room to pick up.
"What are you doing? You always clean up, everywhere. We'll take care of it." Emmett said, smiling his goofy grin at me.
"Um. Okay. Whatever you say, Emmett." I said, chuckling and heading upstairs to Edward's room.
Edward quickly followed suit.
"So, what's the plan? Want to try out some more?" he said, suggestively wiggling his eyebrows at me.
I giggled and shook my head.
"Actually, I just came up here to get my stuff. I need to go pick up Jake and head home." I said, over my shoulder, as I walked into the bathroom.
"Oh, so you'd rather see Jake than have some more fun?" he said, feigning hurt, as I turned to face him with my dirty clothes in hand.
"Oh yes Edward. Like I'd ever pick a dog over you." I said rolling my eyes, and continuing, "By the way, would it have killed you to tell me that I had nothing to worry about with Tanya?"
His eyes about bugged out of their sockets.
"Tanya? Seriously? She's like fifteen! Why would I need to remind you that I only love you?" he asked with an incredulous tone.
"Um, maybe because she's only fifteen but has the body of an adult woman?" I said, the "duh" hinted in my tone.
"I'm sorry. But to be honest. I tend to prefer brunettes myself. So really. No worries." he said, smirking that thought-erasing smirk at me.
"Well, I, um. Oh, speaking of not liking anybody but brunettes, you turned down Rosalie?" I almost said instead of asking.
He looked almost shocked that I had brought that up.
"How did you know about that?" he asked, curiously.
"She told me. Today. When we were upstairs. She told me about Royce and why she didn't like me and what Emmett did wrong." I said, shrugging my shoulders.
"Really? She told you everything? Wow. She's never opened up to someone like that. She must have really felt like she needed to explain things to you." he said, almost to himself, since he spoke so softly.
I walked toward him and threw my clothes on the bed.
"All I have to say, is the fact that you chose me over Rosalie Hale makes me all kinds of shocked and giddy." I said, pulling him into a hug.
He pulled away and looked at me with a funny expression.
"Giddy? Really? So should I just go around town, looking for 'hot chicks' and tell you how much I love you more than them, so that I can have my way with you after?" he said, sounding excited.
"Or, I don't know, you could just kiss me and see where that goes." I said, trying to be flirty and suggestive at the same time.
It worked.
He leaned down and kissed me. It started slowly, but as his hands roamed over my back and slipped under the back of my shirt, the kiss became more fervent and passionate.
Soon we were walking back towards his bed. After a few steps, the back of his knees hit it and he fell back onto his bed, taking me with him. We didn't break the kiss and his hands started slowly trying to inch my shirt up.
Both my hands found my way to his hair, and threaded through the soft, bronze locks.
I broke the kiss, gasping for air.
"Edward. As much as I would love to continue this. I really do need to go get Jake before the kennel closes. They'll just keep calling until I pick him up." I said, feeling sad that I didn't have the time to continue our lovely adventure.
"Okay. I understand. Can I come with you?" he asked, placing a chaste kiss on my lips.
"You are always welcome." I said, smiling at him and prying myself off of him, reluctantly.
He smiled and got off the bed with me. He picked up my dirty clothes and grabbed some of his own clothes, throwing them all in a duffel bag with some pajama pants.
When he was finished, he grabbed a few bathroom necessities, took my hand and walked downstairs with me.
"I'm gonna head out with Edward and pick up Jake. I'll see you guys at home?" I asked, putting on my shoes and jacket.
"We'll be home soon." Alice said, I assumed referring to herself and Jasper.
"I'm gonna stay here with Rose." Emmett said from the couch.
I nodded and left with Edward to get Jake.
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(Let's do the time warp again! Lol skipping ahead to Christmas time.)
For Christmas, our parents were actually coming up to our house. I had been able to pick up small presents for everyone, with my decent salary from the book store. I had even picked up a few dog treats and toys for Jake. I had made sure to get Edward something special enough to make up for the promise ring and what was sure to be another extravagant gift for Christmas.
Tanya and her parents were even going to come down to visit. I was happy to see her again. She had told Jasper and Rosalie that she was bringing a friend. Alice said she thought it would be a guy. I just laughed and hoped she was happy.
Alice, of course, had gone all out, getting stacks of presents, for everybody. I groaned every time I passed the tree that we had all decorated in the front room. Alice had also decided that we use different wrapping paper for whoever the present was for. It was easy to see, who had the most presents.
One thing I had to say for Alice, is she kept the numbering fairly even, trying to make sure no one felt left out. Of course, there were a few extra for Jasper, but that was expected.
The one thing I did do that was remotely fun and exciting, was make Edward's present into a sort of game. It was a promise ring for guys, a steel band with a diagonal line of three small diamonds, but I made the unwrapping part an adventure.
I had wrapped the small box in his specified paper and placed a tag on it. Then I found about ten or twelve more boxes of graduating sizes. I placed each box within the other with varying paper and tags, making sure the final box said Emmett. Emmett would get the most excited about a huge box just for him.
Alice actually didn't know about my plan, so I was excited to see her reaction when they finally got to the box that said her name. I could just imagine her excitement, and then disappointment, when she opened it to see Edward's name on the final box.
I hoped that he would like my present and not think it was stupid. I knew guys weren't much for jewelry, but as I had said when he gave me my ring, I wanted something to claim him with, and this was the best I could come up with.
I was vaguely worried about how much Edward had spent on me, not wanting him to spend too much, as he tended to do. I was brought out of my thoughts of what he possibly could've gotten me, by the sound of the doorbell. Our parents were here.
This would be a fun, giant Christmas.
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A/N: Omg. Okay. So this chapter was killing me. It took me forever just to figure out what Emmett did to Rosalie. Then one day, Rose spilled the whole thing to me, but then I never had time to write it. Figures. Anyways, after Rose spilled to Bella, I got major writer's block on where to take it, so I took a break and started writing other things so I could come back to this with a blank outlook, hopefully allowing for an idea to pop-up. Which it did. I said, hey, why not bring in Tanya? So I did and then came Christmas, which'll be next chapter. I also had finals the last two weeks, so that was time consuming, but it's here and 14 pages. Hope you enjoyed it. Again, pictures can be found at my myspace. Just click the home button on my profile. R&R please.