Next...

"So how long have you been friends with my cousins?" Emmett asked, aiming a piece of popcorn at my mouth. We were sitting in his newly decorated room, having a celebration snack while Rose and Bella got lectured about fighting (the scissors incident had been repeated and had gotten quite ugly, and Bella was missing a chunk of eyebrow while Rosalie sported fingernail marks to her cheek).

I caught it with skill and swallowed before answering. "Well, I guess since we were about three, maybe. We were all enrolled in the kiddy dance class at the Rec. Center and we were the tiniest ones, so we were always in the front row together."

"Bella?" he laughed, missing the popcorn piece I aimed back at him. "Bella, dancing, in the front row?"

"It didn't last long. Bella injured herself and everyone near her, Rosalie was a brat to the other girls and the teacher, and I was more interested in screaming and running around showing off my tutu than the actual dancing. Our mothers never enrolled us again, but they saw how well we got along and started making play-dates for us. Play-dates turned to slumber parties and slumber parties turned into lifelong best friends."

Emmett smiled. "Well that sounds like Rose and Bella, but I'm not so sure about you."

I laughed. "The hyperactivity toned down a bit, but just a little. You just haven't seen me when I have real momentum. I can eat an entire gallon of vanilla ice cream, six candy bars, a six pack of soda, and a Monster and then I stay awake for forty-eight hours."

"I think that may be the most epic sugar rush I've ever heard of," Emmett laughed, tossing more popcorn at me.

I grinned widely, then got on my best demon child voice. "You have no idea how insane I can be."

He laughed, just as a chorus of calls came from the top of the stairs.

"Emmett, Alice, come up for air down there!" Rose called, stomping down.

"If you're not at least eighteen inches apart I'll kill you, Emmett!" Bella added. "We're giving you five seconds."

Emmett looked at me, his face growing gleeful. He whispered lowly, "Wanna mess with them?"

I nodded excitedly. He then scooted as close to me as he could, then put his arms around me, pulling me into his lap. I caught on and rested my head on his shoulder, stifling my giggles. The girls burst into the room a second later.

"See!" Rose screeched at Bella. "I told you!"

"I never disagreed!" Bella screeched back. "And now I'm deaf!"

I broke character too fast, falling off Emmett's lap laughing at my lunatic best friends. "You two are insane!"

Emmett was belly-laughing, about to fall over himself. "What exactly did you tell each other?"

"But…no… It was an act?" Rose asked, looking heartbroken. "But we thought you'd get along so well…"

I realized we actual hurt her feelings and jumped up. "Rosie, I'm sorry! We were just trying to freak you out. And we do get along."

She pouted. "Not the way we wanted."

Bella jumped in. "And you'll have to, somewhat, because you're coming with us all to the movies tomorrow afternoon."

Emmett stood up, dusting himself off. "That's fine, Bells. Sorry we hurt your feelings, Rosie." He tried to hug her, but she shoved him away.

"Get away from me, you freak!" she giggled, fighting him off.

"Aw, don't you wanna give good ole Emmett a kiss?" he asked making kissy sounds.

She and Bella both ran away from Emmett's advances, so he turned to me. "Any takers?"

My heart was suddenly beating erratically, and I had a hard time thinking. I tried to gain my composure, crossing my arms and staring him down. I was able to give him a good response, finally. "I only kiss after three months, minimum."

He grinned widely. "You're strange, Alice."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh huh, and the guy who lives in a basement isn't?"

"Touché," he said, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "People who live in basements are always a bit special. So tomorrow…you okay with it?"

I grinned a little. "Fine with it. It'll be fun to not be sitting between two completely immersed in one another couples."

"We can just see a different movie," Emmett suggested, nudging me.

I thought about that for a moment. "You know…Rose and Bella hate scary movies, but I'm a total sucker for them. They never want to even try seeing one."

Emmett dropped to his knees dramatically, looking up at me like he was looking at an angel. "You are seriously amazing!"

I giggled, and grabbed his arm, urging him to his feet. "I don't know about that, but I do know things won't be so boring around here anymore."

The next day, while Rose and Bella were urging the other guys into the sob-story chick flick, Emmett and I were enjoying our scary movie. We sat there whispering about every little thing, then near the end, a fight scene with a bunch of zombies and heroes stole my attention. Emmett watched in aw as I leaned forward, on the edge of my seat, staring at the spectacle with great joy. When we walked out of the theater, Emmett couldn't stop talking about it.

"So you're a girl who likes scary movies, fight scenes, get along with my unstable family, and can eat the entire super-sized bucket of popcorn without any help?" he said, smiling incredulously. "Am I dead? Are you some kind of magical angel in heaven that's the perfect girl in the world?"

I blushed deeply. "Not so sure about that. You might be in hell if I'm the best girl around."

He stared at me like I was insane. "You're perfect. You seriously amaze me."

I didn't meet his eyes. While I was flattered, I felt something inside me flutter. I knew the feeling, but now it was intensified impossibly. While I'd intended to have a no-strings-attached fling, I felt myself falling for him, and hard. "Let's go grab something to eat or something. The girls' movie doesn't end for another hour."

"You got it," he said, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "There's a McDonald's across the lot, I think."

I agreed and we trekked across the parking lot, then we proceeded to eat our combined weight in French fries and drink about a gallon of chocolate milkshake. We were finishing off our third large order of fries when Emmett breeched the topic I'd abandoned in the theater.

"Alice, why don't you accept compliments?" he asked, nibbling a fry thoughtfully. "What, are you just shy? Because you don't seem shy."

I looked down at the table. "I think it's just… Well, Bella and Rose are gorgeous. You might not see it because they're your cousins, but they are. I'm constantly compared to them, and it's just some other stuff that I over think. I didn't mean to offend you or anything like that."

"No, it's just…" Emmett smiled shyly, covering my hand with his own. "It's just that if I think a girl is beautiful, I want her to agree with me. I may be a bit of a goof, but I'm sincere about this stuff. I guess it goes along with being raised by an older old-fashioned lady."

I blushed a faint pink. "Well then…thanks, I guess."

We walked back to the theater, waiting for Renee to pick us up. I was going to be spending the night with Rose and Bella, and I was slightly nervous about being under the same roof as Emmett. When the girls finally got out of their movie and Renee picked us up, it was ten-thirty. We were all pretty tired, and when Jasper and Edward were dropped off at their respective homes, we all went to the Swans' house. Rose and Bella had twin beds, so when I came over Renee pull the trundle bed from underneath Rose's and extra bedding from underneath Bella's for me. Us girls stayed up until about two, talking and goofing off. At one point, Emmett came to the door -slightly grumpy- and asked if we could be quiet, that he was able to hear us from the basement. It made sense, since he was directly below us. After that we toned it down and found ourselves dozing off. We finally fell asleep, sleeping through the next morning till noon.

When we woke up, we decided food was a must, and then proceeded to make a mess cooking for ourselves. After we cleaned up the kitchen, I decided to see why Emmett was still asleep. I tiptoed down the stairs and peeked into his room. He was sitting up on his made bed, fully dressed, facing the far wall, and talking on his cell phone.

"Yeah, Granny," he said, sounding happy. "Rose and Bella think she likes me, too." A pause. "She's really tiny, but not all skin and bones. She's like a little elf." Another pause. "Jet black, I swear. She's pretty pale, too, and she's got these great big emerald eyes." Pause. He laughed. "I don't even know why I tell you these things if all you're gonna do is tease me." Pause. "You are the crazy one, you unstable old woman." Pause. A sigh. "I miss you, too, Granny. I love you." Pause. "I'll call you tomorrow. Bye."

I felt extremely guilty for listening in on his private conversation. He had talked about me, I was certain, and I was flattered, but my guilt overpowered my glee. I tiptoed back up and went to put on something other than sleep clothes. I went home around four or five, then fell asleep on the couch, waiting for Peter to get home from working the weekend shift.

"Wake up, sissy," Peter sang in my ear softly. My eyes fluttered open to see him and Charlotte sitting on the floor next to me. "She wouldn't let me scream it," he said, pointing to his fiancée.

I sat up slowly, letting blood rush around. "Sorry, we were up until Emmett complained that we were being too loud."

Charlotte laughed a bit. "Poor guy, living with the terrible twosome. But I'm sure you'd like to know why we woke you up."

"Was I snoring?" I asked, still fairly out of it.

Peter snorted with laughter. "No, surprisingly, but Charlotte's parents invited us all to dinner tonight. Are you up for going? We need to be there in an hour."

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, standing up. "Sure. Do I need to dress nice?"

"Not particularly," Charlotte said slowly, "but wear the shirt my mother gave you. She thinks you look adorable in it, even thought I personally think you look like an obese candy cane."

I laughed at the sweet older woman's expense, then went to change.