I laid on Bella's bed watching as she tried on a few different tops, I smiled as she threw another to the ground, trying not to chuckle to myself,
"Bella stop stressing, I'm sure it won't matter what you wear" I commented as I watched her picking another top out of her wardrobe,
"Ana, you're not helping! How are you so calm?" Bella said spinning to look at me, I saw in her eyes the terror in them, I sighed,
"Bella, it's just a baseball game, you have already met the full vampire family" I pointed out the obvious, she sighed and quickly threw on an old flannel shirt,
"this?" she asked me, I nodded,
"do you think Billy will tell Charlie?" Bella asked me as she leaned on the edge of her desk, I thought for a minute before answering,
"I don't think so, he is part of it all really, he can't tell dad without endangering their legends also, don't worry I can handle Billy Black" I said confidently, Bella nodded,
"thank you Ana" Bella said looking at me, I glanced at her confused,
"what for?" I asked still confused,
"I don't know how I would do this all without you, your just always there for me" Bella said honestly, I tried not to get over emotional,
"that's what I'm here for, I will always be here for you" I said honestly, Bella walked and sat on the edge of the bed,
"sooo… what's happening with you and Emmett?" Bella asked trying to sound innocent, I laughed,
"honestly? I have no idea" I said smiling, and truly I didn't have a clue,
"well are you together?" Bella asked me, I shrugged,
"he hasn't asked me" I simply stated,
"but Edward said you and him got very…close" Bella said, I almost laughed with how innocent she was,
"we have kissed a few times and I think it could lead somewhere but I have to be honest with myself" I said carefully, Bella looked confused,
"what do you mean?" Bella asked, I glanced around as if I could tell if Edward or Emmett were somehow listening, I sighed and folded my arms,
"Bella, I know your all wrapped up with Edward and by no means do I want to influence your choices but I'm different, I'm the practical sister, has Edward told you about our blood for him?" I asked carefully, now realising I had no idea how much she knew,
"that it's sort of…stronger for him, mine and yours but yours especially?" Bella asked, I nodded,
"exactly, so I have to be careful, for me as well but for you, I could single handed bring everyone's world crashing down in one accident, and I don't want to ruin anything for anyone, the Cullen's have worked so hard to fit in with society and you have found someone you love" I tried explaining, it felt weird finally speaking out loud all the thoughts that had been running through my brain, Bella looked torn so I continued,
"and then there is the practical side, Emmett's a vampire, I'm a human, I'm literally what his body craves to eat, he never ages, I have hopes and dreams, marriage, a family, and these feelings I have for Emmett scare me, he can never go in the sun, he is fighting himself every time he's with me, is that fair on him?" I almost said before I could stop myself,
"Ana…I had no idea" Bella muttered, I sighed and reached for her hand,
"Bella, please, I don't want this to scare you or anything, honestly, I think you and Edward are perfect together, and are sort of made for each other" I said smiling, I couldn't help but notice her smile just at the sound of his name,
"would you be happy with Emmett?" Bella asked, I almost stumbled trying to think about a reply, I sat and thought for a minute, before answering,
"yes" was all I could say, Bella smiled,
"well isn't that all that matters?" Bella asked me, I gave her a sad smile, I loved how naive Bella was, she was so inexperienced in life that she didn't see the huge obstacles that stood in our way if we chose the embark on relationships with the Cullens.
I sat on one of the kitchen chairs trying to think about everything that was happening, now I wasn't around any of the Cullen's I was able to think logically, I knew these feeling for Emmett were dangerous, and if he asked me I would give up everything in life for him, that was the worst part, the sound of dad's car in the garage was what bought me back to reality, Bella was stood starting to prepare a salad for tonight's meal, the front door slammed and I could hear Charlie banging around under the stairs, putting his fishing tackle away,
"Hi there, kiddo!" dad called as he walked into the kitchen. Bella waved at him, and I gave him a smile,
"Hey, Dad," I said. He walked over to sink and was scrubbing his hands,
"Where's the fish?" Bella asked, I watched them interact, they seemed to be more comfortable with each other at least,
"I put it out in the freezer" dad answered her with a smile,
"I'll go grab a few pieces before they freeze, oh Billy dropped off some of Harry Clearwater's fish fry this afternoon." Bella said trying to enthusiastic, I knew she was still nervous from the encounter,
"He did? that's my favourite" Dad said, his eyes lighting up, I sighed to myself knowing mine and Bella's decision would not only affect us but dad as well,
I sat in silence as I watched dad get cleaned up while Bella got dinner ready. It didn't take long till we were sitting at the table, eating in silence.
"What did you do with yourself today?" dad asked, snapping me out of my own thoughts and breaking the silence,
"Well, this afternoon I just hung out around the house…" Bella said only giving dad the very recent part of this afternoon,
"And this morning I was over at the Cullens'" Bella said nervously, this actually surprised me, I didn't think she would tell him, I glanced at dad to see his reaction to this news, he dropped his fork and stated at Bella,
"Dr. Cullen's place?" he asked in astonishment, I ate another piece of salad, pretending not to notice his reaction,
"Yeah" Bella said,
"What were you doing there?" dad enquired, I noticed he hadn't picked his fork back up yet,
"Well, I sort of have a date with Edward Cullen tonight, and he wanted to introduce me to his parents…" Bella said shyly, I was now in complete shock, dad didn't answer,
"Dad?" Bella asked nervously, It appeared that Charlie was having an aneurysm.
"Dad, are you all right?" I also asked concerned by his reaction,
"You are going out with Edward Cullen?" he thundered towards Bella, his reaction shocking me,
"I thought you liked the Cullens" Bella asked shyly, I knew this was not going well,
"He's too old for you," dad ranted, I sighed and jumped in to help
"they are both juniors dad" I corrected, though he was more right than he dreamed, but again he didn't need to know that,
"Wait…" He paused, thinking for a moment, he turned back to Bella,
"Which one is Edwin?" he asked, I laughed a little earning a glare from Bella,
"Edward is the youngest, the one with the reddish brown hair" Bella explained,
"Oh, well, that's, better, I guess. I don't like the look of that big one. I'm sure he's a nice boy and all, but he looks too… mature for you. Is this Edwin your boyfriend?" he struggled to say, I paled knowing he one he was thinking about was Emmett,
"It's Edward, Dad" Bella corrected him,
"Is he?" dad just demanded,
"Sort of, I guess" Bella admitted,
"You said last night that you weren't interested in any of the boys in town." But he picked up his fork again, so I could see the worst was over, I wondered when they had had this conversation but just sat and watched,
"Well, Edward doesn't live in town, Dad" Bella said, I almost wanted to hit her myself for that response, dad gave Bella a disparaging look as he chewed some fish,
"And, anyways, it's kind of at an early stage, you know. Don't embarrass me with all the boyfriend talk, okay?" Bella pleaded, dad nodded slowly,
"When is he coming over?" dad asked Bella,
"He'll be here in a few minutes" Bella said, I glanced towards the clock and saw sure enough they would be here soon,
"Where is he taking you?" dad asked putting his fork back down, Bella groaned loudly.
"I hope you're getting the Spanish Inquisition out of your system now. We're going to play baseball with his family" Bella said, his face puckered, and then he finally chuckled.
"You're playing baseball?" dad said trying not to sound too patronising,
"Well, I'll probably watch most of the time" Bella confessed,
"You must really like this guy," he observed Bella suspiciously, she sighed and rolled her eyes for his benefit. I heard the roar of an engine pull up in front of the house. I watched as Bella jumped up and started cleaning her dishes.
"Leave the dishes, I can do them tonight. You baby me too much." Dad commented to Bella.
The doorbell rang, and Charlie stalked off to answer it. Bella was half a step behind him. It was only now I realised I hadn't told dad about Emmett or me going, I followed them and when dad opened the door, I was surprised I hadn't realized how hard it was pouring outside.
Edward stood in the halo of the porch light, looking like a model in an advertisement for raincoats.
"Come on in, Edward" dad said, I almost saw Bella breathe a sigh of relief when dad got his name right,
"Thanks, Chief Swan," Edward said in a respectful voice, I was a bit surprised when Emmett wasn't there though,
"Go ahead and call me Charlie. Here, I'll take your jacket" dad offered,
"Thanks, sir." Edward replied and handed dad his jacket,
"Have a seat there, Edward." Dad said slipping into his police mode, I smiled as I watched Bella grimaced,
Edward sat down fluidly in the only chair, forcing Bella to sit next to dad on the sofa. I watched as she quickly shot Edward a dirty look. He winked behind Charlie's back, I leant against the door frame watching the encounter,
"So I hear you're getting my girl to watch baseball." Only in Washington would the fact that it was raining buckets have no bearing at all on the playing of outdoor sports.
"Yes, sir, that's the plan." He didn't look surprised that Bella had told dad the truth. He might have been listening, though would have been my bet,
"Well, more power to you, I guess." Charlie laughed, and Edward joined in.
"Okay, enough humour at my expense. Let's go." Bella said and stood back up and walked back to the hall and pulled on her jacket, dad and Edward followed as I lingered in the living room,
"Not too late, Bell." Dad said seriously,
"Don't worry, Charlie, I'll have her home early," Edward promised dad,
"You take care of my girl, all right?" dad said with a menacing tone, Bella groaned, but they ignored her,
"She'll be safe with me, I promise, sir." Edward promised, dad couldn't doubt Edward's sincerity, it rang in every word.
I watched as they went out and I stopped dead as I saw behind Bella's truck sat Emmett's jeep, dad let out a low whistle,
"Wear your seat belts" he choked out, they agreed and we watched as they walked towards the truck, I stood there for a minute confused, did that mean I wasn't going, I saw Bella say something to Edward, and he nodded,
"see you there Liliana" Edward said before he got in the truck, I went to say something but couldn't, I waved to them and turned to see dad staring now at me,
"see you there? Got something you want to tell me?" dad enquired, I sighed,
"dad can we please not" I begged him and walked back into the living room, I heard him follow,
"Liliana Avery Swan sit" dad commanded, I groaned and flopped on the sofa, dad sat on the chair and stared at me,
"explain" he demanded,
"I'm meeting up with them later" I explained trying to navigate this situation, dad didn't look convinced,
"kiddo" he asked carefully, I sighed,
"fine I'm going with Emmett I think" I finally said, he looked confused,
"which is Emmett?" he asked putting his hands on the knees, I took a deep breathe,
"the one you thought Edward was" I said honestly, I studied him and saw him take a deep breathe,
"and how old is he?" dad asked through gritted teeth,
"19" I said simply, I saw the heat rising to his face,
"Liliana you are 17" was dad's statement,
"dad this is not a big deal, please don't make it into one" I pleaded,
"is he your boyfriend?" dad asked through gritted teeth, I thought for a moment,
"no" I honestly answered,
"just friends?" Dad asked, I thought for another second,
"no" I honestly answered, I guess I may as well be honest,
"dad I don't know what we are exactly at the moment" I said honestly,
"Liliana, you are young, be careful" dad said staring at me,
"dad, it's not a big deal" I said trying to reason with him,
"Liliana, me and your mother were once young, far too young and made some decisions that were too old for us" dad said trying to explain, I groaned,
"dad please tell me you're not trying to have the sex talk with me" I said heat rushing to my face,
"I just want you to be sensible and…careful" he admitted,
"okay can I go?" I asked dying to leave this conversation,
"is he picking you up?" dad asked me, I was about to answer when suddenly the doorbell rang, I jumped up,
"sit. I want to meet him" dad said glaring at me, I sighed and sat back down, I tried to listen to the door but could only hear mumbled voices, dad walked back in and I sat up straight, Emmett following him,
"please, take a seat Emmett" dad said and sat on the chair, I felt Emmett sit next to me,
"now, what are your intentions with my daughter?" dad asked seriously,
"dad!" I almost shouted, embarrassed,
"you don't have to answer" I said quickly turning to Emmett, I was surprised to see him grinning though,
"Lil, it's fine, Chief Swan, my intentions are to get to know your daughter and hopefully build a lasting relationship with her" he asked honestly, I glanced towards dad to see him nodding slowly,
"and after school?" dad enquired,
"I'm hoping to attend college for business and then open my own garage here in Forks, and I hope Liliana and I last but I know she has her own hopes and dreams and I would never hold her back, all I want for her is to be happy" Emmett asked, I looked at him in awe, although slightly scared as they were nearly the exact words I had told Bella this afternoon,
"good because I'm a peaceful man until it comes to my daughters" dad said, I turned and glared at him,
"dad! This is ridiculous, me and Emmett are leaving" I said standing up,
"okay well, just remember what we talked about Liliana" dad said, I nodded and almost pushed Emmett towards the door, I grabbed my rain coat,
"Liliana, look after Bella" dad said as we exited the house,
"always" I promised and followed Emmett towards another black jeep,
"another jeep?" I enquired as Emmett opened the door, he grinned at me,
"just one we had laying around" he joked, I quickly got in and Emmett shut the door behind me and jogged round to the drivers side at human pace.
"sorry about my dad" I commented as Emmett pulled off the street,
"don't be it's good he looking out for you" Emmett said smiling,
"how come you came separate?" I asked innocently,
"worried I had ditched you?" he teased me not watching the road, this did scare me until I realised Emmett was basically indestructible to could hear everything in a mile radius, I smiled
"thought I might get a night off from you" I teased back,
"Edward thought Bella might need a off-roading harness and I thought you definitely wouldn't wear one, so I said I would swing by and pick you up after" Emmett explained, I nodded,
"definitely the right choice" I agreed, we made small talk mainly about school and how many times he had been until he parked the jeep up, I glanced around and turned to him,
"your house?" I asked confused, I thought we were going to watch baseball,
"it's easier to run, Edward drove most of the way there with Bella, but I thought you might enjoy the run" Emmett said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, I smiled,
"are we setting straight off to there?" I asked grinning excited to run at vampire speed, I had to admit I was actually really looking forward to it,
"well first I might gave a little surprise for you" Emmett said grinning towards me, I gave him a confused glance, he didn't stop grinning and then watched as he opened his door and jogged at human speed round to my door, he opened the door and held his hand out,
"Milady" Emmett said faking a southern accent, I laughed but gave him my hand,
"think you better leave the accent to Jasper" I joked trying to ignore the cold chill that run up my arm when our fingers combined,
"so what is the surprise?" I asked smiling up at him,
"it's a surprise you will have to wait and see" Emmett said, I slightly shook my head in amusement, I let Emmett guide me up towards the front door, and suddenly we stopped in front of the door, we stood there I silence for a couple of seconds but which felt like a lifetime,
"Em?" I asked a little confused, he didn't look at me just looked towards the door,
"Emmett?" I asked again, finally his eyes dropping to meet my own,
"sorry was just waiting for the signal" Emmett explained like would know what that meant,
"go on open the door" Emmett said to me, I looked at him quizzically before letting go of his hand and going to push the door open.
