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In the dark,

The paint chips away at your heart, so deep.

Can't you see, see the light in the distance,

Open up your eyes and look,

Look to the sky and believe.

There's much more to life when you're free,

That's the key.

And in time, you will find all the answers.

Don't have to lose your pride,

Hold onto what's inside.

Chapter 9: This Is What Makes Life Beautiful

Bella POV

School had been awful all week. Everywhere you turned people were crying, or yelling. Whichever helped them to handle their loss easier. It was different for everyone. Some people cried, some people curled into themselves, some people picked a fight at every opportunity. Some people simply weren't sure what to do. I was one of those people. I hung out with Angela a lot, because she had gotten quiet and didn't want to be around large groups. We would eat together at lunch and meet before and after school. I had become her rock, sort of. A little bit of sanity in a school of unpredictability. I was more than happy to be there for her. I still got to see the Cullen's during class, which was nice. I missed having them over, but I had been going to Angela's the last two nights, staying quite late. My dad wasn't overly happy about this but I promised that it would only be there and back, no detours. That seemed to help him cope a little more.

Today though, was Wednesday, and my dad was going in for a night shift at the station. It made me very uncomfortable. I didn't like the thought of him going back to work, I also didn't like the thought of staying in that house all by myself. My dad felt the same. He had suggested that maybe I stay the night at Alice's house. She had of course, been thrilled. I absolutely loved Alice. She was like the best friend I never had. And her family was so welcoming that I loved the thought of staying with them for a night.

"So you're staying with us tonight huh?" Emmett asked me during gym and people turned to look at us, shocked that I was staying with the Cullen's. I didn't care though, those people needed to take their heads out of their asses. I nodded.

"Yeah, I won't be there until after dinner though, is that alright?" He gave me a curious look as he passed me the birdie again. It was badminton week. I of course, missed it, and went over to pick it up.

"Well I have been going to Angela Weber's house every night this week and her mom asked me to come for dinner again tonight. I'll come back a bit earlier than I usually do though." He seemed anxious.

"You sure that's a good idea? I mean…being out at night?" I shrugged.

"I'm alright. I just go there and back…" He nodded, still not looking overly convinced.

"Alright well, drive carefully, please?" He pleaded. I smiled and nodded.

"No worries Old Man. I'm pretty much invincible." I said with a wink and he laughed. We went on with mindless banter until class was over. Angela met me at my locker, and I drove us both to my house to grab clothes for tonight so I didn't have to come back here later. I gave my dad a big hug and asked him to be careful. He was going in for work at 7:00pm and would be done at 7:00am for a solid twelve hour shift. I hesitantly left, heading over to Angela's. We hung out and just kept each other's mind occupied, like always. Never a very serious conversation to keep our moods light.

"So you're staying with the Cullen's tonight?" She asked. We were in her room watching TV, waiting for dinner to be ready.

"Yeah, my dad is working the night shift…and some weird guy was hanging around my house so…everyone is a bit uneasy about me staying alone. Emmett has been staying at my house the past two nights to help out and-"

"Hold ON! Emmett Cullen…the. Emmett. Cullen. Has been staying at your house overnight?" She interrupted me, eyes wide. She had a big smile playin on the corners of her lips.

"Well…yeah kinda…"

"Ahhh! No way! You never told me about this!" I laughed at her and shook my head.

"It's no big deal. We just kinda hang out before bed. Watch some TV, no big deal." She sputtered and laughed at me.

"No big deal? He is a GOD. Those arms…his shoulders…the abs…that BUTT!" I burst out laughing at this. She was all giddy. I just enjoyed that she was happy.

"Well yeah, that's all nice, it's not everything though…" I told her, a slight blush on my cheeks.

"Wait…you haven't seen anything…have you?" I felt myself go a few more shades of red.

"Well…"

"ISABELLA SWAN! Tell me, tell me everything right now!" I laughed and held my hands up in defense.

"Alright, alright! He doesn't wear a shirt to bed so he's topless a lot…and this morning…I ran into him when he got out of the shower…" I stopped, watching her mouth hang open.

"H-hold on…shower?" I nodded.

"Yeah…he was all…dripping water… and the towel…and yeah. He's a good looking guy."

"A 'good looking guy'? You mean he's drop dead gorgeous… and dear LORD what did it look like?" I gapped at her momentarily.

"His chest ding bat." She said with a smirk. I laughed and nodded.

"Well, its really muscular… six pack…it's like…something from a magazine. It's almost too perfect." I said, feeling myself get lost in thought. I quickly shook myself out of it.

"But, I don't really check him out. He is dating Rosalie Hale. It makes me feel bad." She nodded.

"You are a very considerate person Bella. That woman wouldn't stop me! But I heard they are on the rocks." I sat there watching her. Was it that obvious they were having problems?

"Well…yeah they are in a pretty heated fight but I gave him some advice and he's going to try to fix it." She nodded.

"You gave the gorgeous hunk of man, sleeping at your house, advice on how to fix things with his bitch of a girlfriend?" I looked at her shocked. Her mouth gapped open at what she had said.

"Angela!" She clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Well…come on, anyone looks at Emmett and she shoots laser beams out of her eyes." We were silent for a moment before we both broke down into hysterics. Angela was such a sweetheart, so quiet. And here she was calling Rosalie a bitch. It was too comical. We continued goofing off until her mom called us down for dinner. Tacos, yummmm.

After dinner, I said my goodbyes to the Weber's.

"Bella please drive safe?" I nodded, hugging Angela. I knew she was freaked out, knowing Jessica got into a car accident when she was attacked. For some reason though, I felt there was more to it that what met the eye. Jessica was a great driver apparently…and there was no other car involved. The night was clear…so what… she just went off the road? She apparently didn't even swerve for animals…damage to the car… but no animal found. No fur…nothing. It just didn't add up to me. Maybe I would have to talk to my dad about it later.

On the way to the Cullen's house I felt a little paranoid…like I was being watched. I tried and tried to shake it off but it just wouldn't go away. I kept looking around me and wasn't paying attention when it happened. A huge figure stood in the middle of the road. I slammed on my breaks and they came screeching to a halt. I sat there, wide eyed watching the massive animal in front of me.

'The bear.' I thought. I was frozen, unable to move. It watched me for a moment then turned its attention to the woods. I jumped and screamed when I felt something hit the bed of my truck hard, causing the whole truck to shake. I turned around and saw another one, barely fitting in the bed, facing the woods, in the same direction as the other animal. I fumbled and scrambled for my brights and let out a shriek. There standing in front of my truck was another two animals, joining the original one. They were all facing the woods. The one in the bed began to growl and I shrank into the seat, wishing I could disappear. Then I saw it. It wasn't a bear…it was a wolf. They are huge, massive wolves. Without warning they all started growling and howling, and then ran off into the woods. I was momentarily paralyzed until I realized the road was clear. I could run. I scrambled to put the truck in gear and sped off towards the Cullen's, now pushing my dear truck as fast as it would go. The engine roared in protest but I knew I couldn't stop. I needed to get off the roads.

"Just a little further… j-just a littler further." I chanted to myself and felt my anxiety spike as I saw the drive leading up to the Cullen's. I slowed down a bit and turned, now speeding down the long, narrow path to the house. Once I reached the lit area of their house I shut my truck off and threw myself out of the box and ran to the door. Once I got there I began banging on the door frantically.

"Please, please hurry." I whispered as I heard a howl in the distance. The door opened and I flung myself into whosever arms they were and began mumbling to myself how thankful I was to be inside.

"Bella, Bella! Hey, what's wrong…hey…talk to me… Bella!" I looked up into Edward's worried eyes and nodded. I was shaking and took a step back. I then noticed the whole family standing there watching me. Emmett and Alice stepped forward.

"Bella what's wrong?" Alice looked frantic. I put my hand up to my forehead, trying to come up with the words, when I realized I had a steady stream of tears flowing from my eyes. 'When did I start crying?'

"They…th-they…they're not bears!" I burst out. They all watched me confused.

"It's wolves…I mean…huge wolves!" I started crying again.

"They…in my truck… I stopped b-because they…in the middle o-of the road…and then on my truck…h-howling!" Alice came up and put her hands on my shoulders and shook me gently.

"Bella you need to calm down. Come sit…and start from the beginning. Okay? Slowly." I nodded and came to sit on the couch. The rest of the family followed. I had Alice on my left, holding my hand, and Emmett on my right, watching me with worry in his eyes.

"Alright Bella…what happened." I looked to Alice and took a deep breath.

"I was driving here from A-Angela's and when I got to that long stretch with w-woods on both sides of the road I started to feel l-like…someone was… watching me. I tried to shake it off …but I couldn't help feeling l-like someone was following me… or keeping an eye on me. Well… I was t-too busy looking around me to pay attention to the road. I turned back and saw this huge …thing…in the middle of the road just sitting there… I h-hit my breaks …and the thing didn't even move. It just s-sat there…w-watching me…" I had started to feel very paranoid again just thinking about it. Alice squeezed my hand. I took a gulp of air, trying to remember the details.

"I watched it…and it was staring into the woods…I felt my truck start to shake…I turned around and there was another one in the bed. I…I don't know how it got in there…I looked back to the front and the one had grown to three… f-four…wolves… they started growling…and they were all watching the woods. Then all of a s-sudden they r-ran off…" I felt Emmett put his arm up to my shoulder to stop me from shaking. I looked to him and realized I was crying again.

"They were so big…"

"Bella, are you sure they were wolves?" I looked to Carlisle and nodded.

"Y-yes. I am positive."

Emmett POV

I watched as Bella sat there telling us what had happened and I couldn't help the wave of anger that hit me. Those wolves should have been more careful. One of them could have seriously hurt her.

"Alright Bella, you need to calm down… sweetheart please…you can't get yourself all worked up like this…" Alice was in a panic and I watched her interact with Bella. Bella nodded and tried to keep herself calm. Alice gave a pointed look at Jasper and he shot us all with a good dose of calm.

"Oh wow! Okay… Bella…it's alright. You're here, everything is alright." Bella nodded again and looked back to Alice.

"How did you…know…I needed to…" Alice smiled softly.

"I'm sorry Bella…I had a talk with your dad…" Bella just nodded. I looked up to see Rose glaring at me, but I was tired of caring.

"Emmett. A word." I just shrugged and left Bella's side, walking up to the room I'm supposed to share with Rosalie.

"What is she doing here?" I looked at her confused.

"You knew she was staying the night here Rose." She glared at me again.

"No, I don't believe I did. Why the fuck was I not informed?" I took in a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of my nose with my hand.

"Look. I don't get why you're so mad. But you know what? I have a theory. Maybe, you're just scared. You know you could be nicer to me and you're scared I'm going to leave you if I find someone that's nicer to me." She huffed at me and crossed her arms.

"Excuse me? No, don't you dare try to turn this around on me. Now, if you let her stay here, don't even think about coming back to our room. It will be my room." I shook my head at her.

"Fine. Don't listen to reason. And she stays. She is scared, and Charlie doesn't want her to be left alone. She stays." I headed toward the door, but stopped.

"You know…I want so badly to fix this. To just…make you happy. I love you…with everything I have. But what about my happiness Rose? When is my happiness going to make your priority list?" I turned and went back downstairs to find Alice still sitting with Bella, rubbing circles on her back.

"Hey Little One, you feeling better?" She nodded, giving me a weak smile.

"Did you bring a bag?" She nodded.

"Is it in the truck?" She nodded again. I chuckled and went out to her truck grabbing her bag. I stopped to check out the body of the truck. A slight dent on the right side, maybe from the wolf jumping on and off. I sighed and went back inside.

"Keep giving her doses of calm Jasper." Edward muttered and Jas nodded. What was up? So she was a little worked up, she would come back down soon. Edward looked at me and motioned for me to follow him. We went into the kitchen and he began speaking to me in a hushed voice.

"Alice spoke to Charlie about Bella's life in Phoenix. I'll let her tell you when she is ready, but long story short, Bella is epileptic. She needs to stay calm or she could go into epileptic shock and start seizuring." My mouth hung open in shock. I couldn't even think of a response. Poor Bella…she just can't catch a break can she? I nodded dumbly and went back to the living room, watching Alice comforting Bella. Jasper was still working his magic.

"Thanks guys…I think I'm good now. Thanks Alice…" She gave Bella a tight hug and finally started to let herself breathe.

"I think I just really want to go to do my homework and go to bed." She said quietly. Alice nodded and let Bella get up. She came and got her bag from me.

"Thanks Em." I smiled and nodded.

"What kind of homework do you have Little One?" She peaked up and me and smiled.

"Geography." I laughed my booming 'Emmett laugh' and tossed my arm over he shoulders.

"What a coincidence! I'm a geography genius! Let's get started." She nodded and we went into the private library we have and got her books out.

"Woah…look at all these books." She whispered in awe.

"Yeah, Carlisle loves his books. He reads a lot." She nodded and ran her fingers over a few spines. She turned to me with pure adoration in her eyes.

"I love the classics."

"Do you? Well I'm sure you could pick a few and Carlisle wouldn't mind. Give a few of them a good read." I was sure she had never looked happier. I had to laugh. She was nothing but honesty. Her emotions, her actions, her habits. Everything she did, she did with pure honesty…she held nothing back. I liked it. There was no other level with Bella. She was perceptive, and gave people their space and privacy, but she never gave anything but bare Bella.

"Alright. Enough day dreaming, I gotta do this homework." I smiled as she plopped herself down into a chair. I took the chair next to her and picked up her textbook.

"So what problems do you have to finish?" She looked at some papers in her binder and began to read the notes she had made.

"Questions 1 through 5." I nodded and began reading the questions aloud to her. She would take her time thinking about the answer and only occasionally would she ask me for help.

"What do you want to be when you're older?" She asked, out of nowhere. I stared at her blankly.

"What did I do…" She asked, taking in my expression.

"Um…nothing. I have just never had someone ask me that before." She looked at me like I had just sprouted antlers.

"Never?" I shook my head. She smiled at me and sat there in silence, watching me, waiting patiently for my response.

"Well…when I was little…I think…I wanted to be a doctor. I think…but now…I'm not sure. I haven't really thought about it. I think it would be really cool to be a marine biologist." She looked at me like I was crazy.

"Really? I couldn't imagine that. I could see you as a teacher though." I laughed.

"Seriously? A teacher? Don't you think I would scare the kids?" She smiled and shook her head. Me? A teacher?

"Nope. I think they would see you like a big teddy bear. You just strike me as a guy that would be good with kids." I thought about this for a moment.

"I do love kids…" Now that I thought about it… that would be kind of cool. I would have to remember that for future careers. It gets so boring being in high school all the time so I have thought about getting a few degrees, changing it up a bit.

"Hey Em pass me that map?" And with that we were back to work. I couldn't keep my mind from racing though. I could remember…I wanted to be a doctor when I was little. It was because I loved taking care of my sister. I couldn't wait to write this down… yet another piece of the Emmett puzzle solved. I smirked at my own nerdy behaviour. I liked to know about my human life though, it made this life a little more tolerable. I wasn't just a shell of what I used to be if I knew about who I was.

I watched as Bella read through the sections that contained the answers. She looked so focused, biting her bottom lip while she read. I just watched her, her shoulders rising and falling with every breath. Slowly biting on her lip, her brow furrowed in thought. She seemed so perfectly, imperfect. I liked it. I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice her watching me back.

"What?" She whispered. I smiled.

"Just…nice to have someone else around for a change." She laughed quietly and nudged my side.

"Come on, I'm all done. Um, where am I sleeping tonight?"

"In the guest room, come with me, I'll show you where it is." We packed up her books and headed out to the living room. She said a thank you and goodnight to everyone. We went upstairs and bumped into Rosalie.

"Uh… h-hey Rosalie…" Bella said. Uh oh. Rosalie just glare at her and then turned to me.

"Emmett. What are you doing?" I looked at her and down at Bella, who was shrinking into herself. I put my hands on her shoulders and pulled her into my chest. She went stiff and I felt so bad for her. An angry vampire gave off really bad vibes.

"I'm showing Bella to the guest room." I said, giving her a 'not right now' look. She held back a growl, looking back down at Bella.

"Fine." She spat. Bella dropped her head and stared at the floor. I put my arm across her front and glared at Rosalie. How dare she try to intimidate Bella? Rose pushed past us and I heard Bella's heart beating out of her chest.

"It's alright Bella, don't pay her any attention." I whispered to her. She seemed to melt into me and I put my other arm around her to relax her. I nudged her toward the stairs to go up another level and led her to one of the two guest rooms we have.

"Emmett, I'm sorry if Rosalie is upset with you…" She began, but I cut her off.

"Don't be. She is always upset with me anymore." She frowned at me.

"Did you talk to her?" I nodded.

"Yeah…but she won't listen. She shot it down right away, so I don't know what to do anymore. I miss her, but I can't keep sacrificing like this." She nodded, sitting down on the bed. She patted the spot next to her.

"Emmett, you shouldn't have to sacrifice. There should be compromise, and lenience… but neither of you should have to sacrifice anything. You should both understand each other's wants and needs…and be happy to allow the other enough freedom to make yourself a priority once in a while." I smiled to her.

"Maybe you should be the Old Man." She laughed and punched me lightly.

"Oh shut it. Now leave. I need to change." I chuckled and got up. I opened the door to find Alice ready to knock.

"Hey guys! Bella, I'll come back in a few minutes okay?" Bella nodded, and Alice and I excused ourselves.

"Bella is right you know." She whispered to me. I leaned against the wall and sighed.

"But it's not that easy Alice. This isn't some high school romance. She is my mate… my other half… one person in this world that is perfect for me." She suddenly glazed over and I waited patiently. She soon popped out of it and gave me a sad smile.

"If she really is perfect for you…then why does she make you so miserable? Think about it Emmett." And with that, she walked down the hall and to her room. I stood there in silence for a few moments before slowly trudging my way to the other guest room. I had a lot of thinking to do.

Alice POV

I waited in mine and Jasper's room for Bella to get into her pajamas. I heard her wander to the bathroom to brush her teeth as well. I sat and thought about my vision.

I again saw Rosalie cornering Bella in the classroom. 'So she is still planning on terrifying Bella.' I shook my head. Now that I knew Bella has health problems, I needed to keep Rosalie from scaring her. She couldn't get too worked up.

The second part of my vision shocked me. I didn't know the reason yet, but I saw Rosalie threatening to leave. I felt so bad for Emmett that it had come to this, but Rosalie wouldn't leave if she truly cared for Emmett. Maybe this is just bringing out her true nature. I was now very skeptical that it was love holding that marriage together. I sighed getting up and heading to Bella's room, once I heard her creep back and close the door. I knocked, and heard a soft, 'come in' from the inside.

"Hey Bella." I said with a smile. "My brother has hogged you long enough, lets have a little girl time before bed!" She laughed and nodded, patting the spot beside her on the bed.

"Sure! Come on in. I'm just watching Wipeout." I nodded and came in to sit beside her. on the TV was a bunch of people running through an obstacle course one at a time, all getting their assed kicked and falling over and wiping out in this big pool of water. It was funny as hell! We sat and chatted for a while before she tossed me a loaded question.

"So, you spoke to my dad huh? What did…what was said?" I looked to her and smiled apologetically.

"Oh Bella, I'm sorry. He did tell me about he and your mom…and Phil…and the car accident…and what she did to you two. Don't be mad though okay? Charlie is finding it really hard to adapt is all. He loves you so much…you know that right?" She smiled and nodded.

"I know…he's an amazing man Alice. I would miss him so much every time I would have to leave him…or he would leave Phoenix. He was the best uncle… taught me so much. I pretty much did my normal growing up two weeks a year. The rest of the time I was busy playing mom to Renee. He was the best part of my year…when I found out he was my real dad…I was shocked…but not all that surprised. We are much too alike. I just had a connection with him…it's not something you can force, it's just there." I smiled and put my hand out to hold hers. She smiled at the contact and held my cold hand with her warm one.

"So, was that what decided that you would move to Forks?" She nodded.

"Yeah, I just couldn't spend anymore time with Phil and Renee. My dad missed out on so much…I couldn't deprive him of anymore of my growing up. It was an easy decision once Renee finally told me."

"But, didn't you find out at Christmas?" She shook her head.

"No, they thought it would be much too taxing on me given my newfound medical status." She said with a humourless laugh. I sighed.

"So…epilepsy huh?" She nodded.

"Yeah, I was a bit surprised too. Thank you for keeping me calm earlier. If I get too stressed out I could just drop. I am taking my meds daily…and getting enough sleep but…I feel a lot safer here considering your dad is a doctor." I laughed and pulled her into a hug.

"Well just try to keep yourself calm too. And I'll do anything I can to keep you stress free." I told her with a wink. She smiled and thanked me.

"So…does it upset you?" Dumb question Alice. I could hear members of my family congregating outside the door.

"Well…I was at first. But you just have to see the positives of every situation. You can't control it all…you need to have fun with the unexpected. I mean…I am still working on the bright side to all of this…but this is what makes life so beautiful, isn't it? Not knowing. Life throws you curves and is never perfect. But that is what makes it all worth it…imperfection is beautiful."

"I don't understand, isn't perfection what everyone strives for?" She nodded. Everyone was listening intently to this brilliant girl sitting before me.

"Well…some yes. But in my opinion…life is what you make it. Cliché…yeah. But when you have to work hard at something…when you have to face the occasional struggle and make a few tough decisions to better your life…it makes you appreciate all that you have so much more. It makes you proud of what you have accomplished. Your whole world looks beautiful…and you only get that through imperfection." We were all silent and I leaned in and hugged her.

"You are so life smart Bella." I whispered in her ear. She smiled at me and I heard people disperse on the other side of the door. We laid in her bed watching TV until she fell asleep. I just watched her for a while as she began to dream. I wish I could dream…a crazy nut like me…I'd have such cool dreams! I smiled at the thought, getting up and heading back to my room. When I reached the outside I saw Emmett sitting on the floor by the door.

"You alright Em?" He looked up to me and smiled.

"She is so smart…I'm just doing some thinking. Her heartbeat and breathing relaxes me." I nodded and messed with his hair gently.

"Goodnight hun." I whispered and headed to my room. I went in and closed the door, leaning against it. Jasper was there, sitting on the bed reading a book. He smiled at me. I sighed.

"I adore that girl." I said happily. He just laughed at me.

I really hope you enjoyed this! I will be updating again in a few days, so keep the reviews coming! I save the ones that really stick out to me and I will send you a little shout out or answer your questions. Thanks for reading! Review! :)

Song: Beautiful You Are – Deborah Cox