Baby You Can Stop Running
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight…
Chapter Twenty One
Emmet's POV
I walked into the hospital that afternoon after finding what little strength I had within myself to leave Rosalie snuggled beneath the covers of my blankets. That woman was everything that I never thought I needed, everything I couldn't now live without. The past week without her had been unbearable, and that was putting it mildly. I've never exactly been one to become emotionally attached (if I were a psychologist, I probably would have placed a high bet that it was a learned trait after watching my parents marriage crumble before me like a stale cracker) but Rosalie lit a fire in my heart that no one else had ever come close to before. And there had been so many before her…
From high school until about my junior year at the University of Washington I would have been considered promiscuous, a male slut of sorts (Bella kindly referred to them as my playboy days). It was a life filled with never sleeping with the same woman more than three times before casting her away for the next flavor of the week. I claimed it was because I grew bored, but Bella knew me better than that.
"Emmett, really it's not fair what you're doing to those poor girls." She sighed into the phone.
"Bells, they know what their getting into. I'm the George Clooney of Seattle!" I grinned and puffed my chest out. It was a title that The Daily had given me when the staff realized that I had singled handedly bedded half of their female writers.
"And do you think that the eternal bachelor is a happy man?"
"Of course he is! I mean, the man has slept with some of the hottest women around! If I were him, I would without a doubt die a happy, happy man."
"You say that now… Just wait Emmett… One day you'll find a girl who will tame you. One who will get you to forget about this irrational fear of commitment because mom and dad didn't work out."
"Whatever you say sis." I smiled before she launched into her news about her evolving relationship with Jacob Black.
Jacob Black… The name in and of itself was enough to bring a scowl to my face. Though our parents had split us up with the divorce, it hadn't exactly been bad for our relationship; in fact, it had just the opposite effect. I had become extremely protective over my little sister, so much so that when she began to date Jacob the summer before her senior year of high school, I sat down with him and gave him a nice little chat, violently depicting each and everything I would do to him if he so much as tried to hurt her.
I still regretted that I never actually went through with those plans when I learned of what he had done to her. If there are any regrets in my life, it was not following through with the early threats of bodily harm to his body should he ever try and mess with her. Still, I couldn't deny that the punch I landed to his nose hadn't felt good at the time. Though more punches would have been ever better. Then again, maybe it really wouldn't have mattered, I'd still hate him just as much as I do now for changing Bella… For taking away her lively, optimistic, loving personality and leaving a broken heap of a girl on the floor of her bedroom, broken hearted over the loss of her boyfriend, sad over the loss of her best friend, and afraid that love would never find her again. She didn't deserve that. She was worth so much more than that and I couldn't help but worry that she would never come back to us in the way that she once was, that that person was gone forever.
Seeing Bella at SeaTac that day had been a changing point for me in my life. At least, a real, life changing event. I had known about what Jacob had done to before she had come back. I was the only one who really knew the truth, besides him of course and though I had scaled back on the women that I had pursued on campus because I was terrified that I would do something like that to them, it wasn't until I saw the tears streak down her face, her body limp in the airport as I held her in my arms, that I realized just how dire the situation had truly been. I hated to admit it, but I had figured that she would have healed a little more being in California, it seemed though, that in coming back, she was worse off than ever before.
I watched as she made her way over towards the luggage carousel and I couldn't help but notice how emaciated she had become. After having given birth it appeared that she had wasted away and I knew that was probably the case. During the whole ordeal I knew that she voiced her strength but if I knew Bella as well as I thought I did, I was fairly certain that it was all an act. I smiled at her and I watched as she approachhed and saw the tears that were welling up in her eyes, it was only moments later that she was sobbing.
"Shhh. Bella…" I whispered, feeling her tears as they soaked through my shirt. I knew there was no way I could take her to Forks, even the prospect of getting off the plane had been more than she could bear. Still, I couldn't let her get on a plane in the state that she was in either.
"I can't go there Emmett…" She sobbed as she clutched my shirt. I was nearly about to cry as well as I watched her, as I realized that there was nothing that I could do to help her. She was broken beyond repair. That piece of shit Jacob Black, who I had on good authority, was out living his life, dating some of the girls on the reservation, while my precious little sister was torn up inside. Somehow, that in and of itself didn't seem fair to me.
"It's okay Bella… Let's go to one of the hotels, you can clean up, have some food, get a good night's sleep and I'll have you on a plane tomorrow back to California."
Rosalie came into my life shortly after that incident at the airport and she had been a challenge that was for sure. When I met her I knew that I wanted her, but to what extent I wasn't sure. She was a year younger than me and studying at Seattle University. I had met her at a bar one night, and she had stood out among the crowed. Still, I wasn't the only one to take notice, though I was the only one that she spoke to that night… Well, with some sign of interest. Still, in that moment I had become hooked to her and pursued her stronger than anyone else I ever had. I had feared that my 'George Clooney' nickname had somehow spread to the Seattle University campus because for three months she had shown little interest, her behavior ranging from cold to warm and it confused me, and excited me. Unlike the girls before, she had been a challenge and one worth undertaking and finally after four months of chasing after her, she allowed me into her life and I realized that there was no way I was ever letting her out of mine.
Reading people had never been an outstanding trait of mine, in fact, unless it came to choosing what girl it was that I was going to be taking home, I was pretty useless at it. And even that skill had gone by the way side after I declared that no other woman but Rosalie would ever sleep in my bed, so you can imagine my surprise when I stood witness to Edwards glances towards Bella. I knew that look in his eye, that slight glimmer, the smile that appears when their name is said or whenever they walk into the room, I saw the lust that washed over his face when he held her in his arms… And although I knew he was a good guy, with Bella's past I couldn't help but be a little apprehensive about this blossoming relationship.
True, she seemed to like him and true, he wasn't Jacob. But still, he had been living in Forks for two years now and I knew quite well what his reputation was like. He was something like an older version of my former self, and though the two years age difference wasn't that great of a deal… I still wasn't sure I was comfortable having him pursue my innocent younger sister. In a town as small as Forks, whenever someone "hooks up" so to speak, it becomes the talk of the town… Edward had "hooked up" with the majority of the single women under thirty. I suppose I'd just have to have that talk with him when the time came… Rosalie however urged me to let things flow as they may, that it would work of if it was meant to and that Edward was essentially a good human being and she couldn't see him hurting Bella the way Jacob had. Still, though I loved her dearly, her opinion didn't much matter to me when it came to Bella.
"He's sweet Em…" She smiled as I wrapped my arms around her.
"I'm still not happy with him sleeping in her room."
"Did he really have much of a choice? That girl is in love with him." I visibly scowled at her remark and she smacked my chest playfully.
"I still don't like it."
"After everything she's been through, doesn't she have a right to be happy? What if he makes her happy Em? Isn't that what really matters?"
"Since when did you become a romantic?"
"I'm not…" She grinned. It was true, though Rosalie was a girl in so many ways, when it came to others, she was so completely on my level. Take her idea of romance: going out to dinner. And unlike the girls I use to wine and dine before her, it didn't matter if it was a five star, Michelin rated chef, though she did appreciate it. But, for the most part, she was content just ordering a pizza and cuddling up on the couch. Not that her idea of romance exactly stopped me from wining and dining her, I would take her to Seattle a few times a month to do such a thing for her … It was just nice to not feel the pressure to do it. "It's just… He's obviously very protective of her and it's sweet, and she wants to be around him. There was no physical way you could have pried her from his arms tonight."
"He's five years older than her!"
"She's a grown woman…"
"But she doesn't know what she's getting herself into. The man has slept with half the town!"
"Hypocritical much?"My eyes grew wide with that comment. I had never told her about my past indiscretions so I assumed that she had no knowledge of my former self. "George Clooney would hang his head in shame if he knew his protégé no longer played the field." She grinned at me, her full lips pulled taught into the most brilliant smile I had ever seen. "You really thought I didn't know?"
"I-I guess I just…"
"Emmett, I knew exactly who you were that night in the bar."
"So you made me wait four months why?"
"I never wanted to be just one of those girls. I knew I had to set myself apart."
"You never cease to amaze me woman."
"Don't call me that." She pouted.
"Baby…" I smiled, rolling over on top of her.
"No. You aren't getting out of it that easily." She retorted, pushing me over. "If you changed, what's to say that he can't? Do you see the look in his eyes when he looks at her?" I scowled again and she giggled. "I know how much you love your sister, but what if he is a driving force in getting her to come back? I know how much you've missed her, how much Charlie has missed her… Maybe this is exactly what she needs to make her come back. I wouldn't close yourself off to the idea of having him in her life just yet… I have a good feeling about that one."
"Are you done yet?"
"Will you agree that I might be right?"
"No."
"Goodnight Emmett." She smiled, turning over onto her side and ignoring me.
"Rosie…" I poked her side. "Rosie baby…" She swatted my hand off her waist. "Baby you can't just leave me like this."With that she turned over and looked to where my finger was pointing, her grin grew devious.
"Maybe you should have thought about that before you pissed me off." She leaned over and kissed my cheek before rolling back onto her side. There was no use…
"I'm sorry… You're right. I'm wrong." I said, pulling her backside flush against me.
"That's more like it… You're still not getting any tonight." She said, her voice taking on a teasing seductive tone and I groaned knowing she was doing it on purpose. It would be okay though…. She had one this battle… There was still a war to fight and though I appeased myself with the notion that I would win… I knew that with it came to her, she always won out in the end.
I walked into Charlie's room, half expecting to see Bella sitting there since she wasn't there when I left the house though his room was silent and he lay there asleep on the bed. She was probably with Edward. I wanted to like him. I truly wanted to be okay with her spending all this time with him but I was terrified that he would do the same thing to her that Jacob had. I knew he wasn't a bad person. I had gotten to know him fairly well over the past two weeks and I knew he had a good heart, but he didn't know Bella… He didn't know how inexperienced she was, he didn't know her past, he didn't know how fragile she was and I was afraid that I would have to pick up the pieces again. But it was more than that… I was afraid that if she went through the same thing again, that this time she wouldn't come out of it alive.
"Emmett." I heard a voice say breaking my train of thought and I turned my head to look towards the door where Dr. Cullen stood.
"Hi Dr. Cullen." I smiled, trying to push away the thoughts that I was having.
"Please after everything that's happen this past week, call me Carlisle." He responded with a polite smile. "How are you?"
"I'm good. Trying to figure out where Bella ran off to."
"Would it be a good thing, or a bad thing, to mention that I was wondering the same thing about my son?"
I shrugged in my response and I noticed that the smile on Carlisle's face had faded as he watched my reaction.
"He means well Emmett."
"You're his father; you're bound to say that."
"I am by no means bound to say anything. What I can say is that I've never seen him so… optimistic about the future since your sister arrived."
"He doesn't know what she's been through."
"You don't know what he's been through." That caught my attention and I turned to look at him, a small, sad smile playing on his lips.
"I suppose you're right."
"Give him a chance."
"I suppose after everything he's done for my dad I do owe him that much. Besides, he's too likable to not… But if he does anything to hurt her…"
"I will personally see to it that he is properly reprimanded." He grinned and I looked at him with shock, my eyebrows pulled together into a tight V. "I might not know your sister very well but I do remember her from when we moved into town…"
It was then that I understood what he was talking about. He had known about the pregnancy. Of course…
"I wouldn't let him anywhere near her if I thought her emotional well being was in jeopardy." His smile was warm and reassuring.
"I appreciate your silence on the matter…" I changed the subject, no longer wanting to hear about Edward Cullen's adoration of my sister.
"It was never my information to share."
"Still…"
"And… Just so you know… I've never spoken a word of it to any member of my family."
"I never suspected that you had..." I sighed. "Still… Thank you."
He nodded and looked towards the bed. "There was a reason why I stopped by this morning however."
"Is he okay?" I could feel my heart as it began to race in my chest with the notion that Charlie wasn't going to be okay. It would truly be the last thing that this family needed, the last thing Bella needed, they had only just begun to rekindle their relationship and though I knew they would move along quickly, I couldn't help but worry that if he did die, that if she didn't get to really mend the problems that they had, that it would be devastating for her.
"He's okay now… Edward did come in this morning to check on him, though I explicitly forbade him from stepping foot into this hospital… He had a minor heart attack early this morning, presumably from the shock. His body is very weak from the stress and that was a reaction to it all…"
"We never received a phone call."
"That is what Edward told me and I'm looking into the events. Miss Stanley was on call at the time and I have arranged a meeting with her to get to the bottom of this. I mainly wanted to inform you that the heart attack did happen and that I am doing everything I can to right this situation. I am very sorry about this."
"Jessica Stanley hates my sister… I'd assume that is probably part of the reason."
"Yes well… As I said, I'm looking into every angle of this, though she does appear to be the guilty party and it will be dealt with accordingly."
"Thank you Carlisle."
"You're welcome." He smiled before leaving me alone in the room with my thoughts. All I could wonder was when Bella would be back. It was truly driving me crazy not knowing what was happening between her and Edward and though it really wasn't my place or my business. Still, I had this innate desire to protect her, to make sure that her past, that her history did not repeat itself. I couldn't stop it the first time and I would always feel guilty for not truly being there for her, but I had the opportunity to make it right. And I wasn't going to stand around and watch her fall apart again. It was either talk to Bella or talk to Edward. Either way, a conversation was going to have to take place and I hoped Edward really was the man his father said he was.
Edward's POV
"Emmett is here." Her soft voice broke the silence that we had been riding in as we pulled into the parking lot of Forks Community Hospital. She pointed to the large Jeep that was covered in mud, presumably from the off road trip that he took a few days before Bella came into town.
"I should probably let you go speak with him then." I whispered, not really wanting to leave her, not wanting her to leave me.
"You can come with me."
"No… You've spent enough time with me today. Maybe you should spend some time with your family." I was trying to be rational, still the selfish part of me wanted nothing more than to drive far away from that hospital and take her with me.
"Oh…" She reached down and I heard the seat belt click as she pressed the button down to free herself. "Will I see you again today?" Her eyes were filled with a hope that I reveled in.
"If you want." I smiled, reaching my hand forward as I took some of her hair into my hand and admired its softness. "It's pretty obvious that I can't deny you anything."
"I do want to see you later…"
"I'll pick you up at your house after you have dinner with Emmett and Rosalie."
She grinned at me and my heart leapt in my chest. I could feel as my eyes traveled from her own to her lips and I watched as she licked them slightly and I suppressed the groan that was building in the back of my throat. Could I kiss her again? My body gave me an answer before I was rationally able to process it as my hand slid behind her head, pulling her face nearer to my own until our lips touched and a fire seemed to spread through my body. Interesting… I had thought that the first rush of tingles that occurred in the meadow were simply due to the build up, but that didn't seem to be the case as sitting there with her, my lips still felt as though they were on fire and this was definitely not our first kiss. It was better than before.
I pulled away before it became too intense, knowing full well that she had things to do this afternoon and heard the whimper that escaped from her lips as I pressed my own to her throat. I could feel her pulse, the rapid beating of her heart as the blood coursed through her veins. Her skin smelled lovely and I wondered how anyone could smell so appealing.
"You should go." I whispered, my lips now at the base of her neck, still breathing her in. And though I was urging her to leave I couldn't bring myself to pull my face from her neck. There was something oddly comforting, something so right as I listened to the erratic beating of her heart. "Emmett is probably wondering where you are."
"So I will see you later?" She said, her voice breathy as though she had forgotten to breathe and it brought a smile to my lips. I took pride in the fact that I could affect her in this way, at least it meant that the feeling was mutual, though I wasn't sure how she would react if she knew just what she did to me.
Reluctantly I sat back up, allowing my eyes to met her own. "I will see you later."
I watched as she got out of the car and walked to the doors of the hospital, glancing briefly over her shoulder to smile at me once more before she entered. My breath hitched in my throat as I watched, my heart already seeming to ache at her leaving me. True, I would see her in a few hours but I knew that somehow they would be the longest hours of my life. I was, without a doubt, addicted to Bella Swan.
Bella's POV
Emmett was sitting in one of the chairs by the window when I walked into Charlie's room. Though I couldn't see his face I was certain that he was deep in thought and as I noticed that the window looked out onto the parking lot, I couldn't help but worry that this change in demeanor had to do with what he had probably just bore witness to. I stood at the door for a while, trying not to make a noise, wanting to merely observe him to try and determine where his mind was. I was afraid that I might be walking into a situation that I was not ready to handle.
"I know you're there Bells." He finally spoke, his eyes turning to look at me and I blushed a furious shade of red as I moved deeper into the room and stopped by the chair next to Emmett. His eyes seemed to burn into me as he continued to observe me and I wondered if he was angry with me, if he didn't agree with what was happening.
"Sorry, you looked occupied."
"Just my mind Bella… Just my mind."
"Well, that's a good change of events." I teased and for the first time, he smiled.
"Oh shut it." He chuckled before his features turned serious again. "Listen Bells…"
"I'm okay Em."
"I just want you to be careful…"
"He's different."
"You don't know that. You barely know him and you two looked so intimate in the car…" His voice trailed as his eyes moved back to the parking lot.
"I may have only just met him Emmett… But I do know him."
"How can that be possible?"
I shrugged, how do you explain that kind of connection? "How did you know that you knew Rose?"
"That's different."
I grimaced. "How is that possible?"
"Because I wasn't in your position… I didn't have the past that you have haunting me."
"He knows." I said quietly and he turned abruptly to look at me, his eyes racking over my face as though he was trying to figure out what had happened to me, what had caused this change of demeanor. "Listen… I'm not sure I can explain myself the way that you want me to but he knows me Emmett, and I know him and he makes me feel alive…" I felt the grin on my lips. "I'm not saying that everything from the past is fixed but when I'm with him, it almost doesn't matter anymore."
"I can't believe you told him."
"He would have found out eventually. He does have access to my medical records."
"Still…"
"It's okay Emmett. He's okay with it."I sighed.
"Please just… Don't rush into this… I don't want this to end the way things ended the last time."
"This is different."
"Are you sure?" He asked and I felt my stomach flop in my gut. Was I sure? Was I absolutely positive that things wouldn't end just as terribly as they had with Jacob?
"You can never be sure… But I'm not the same person, and things are different this time. He's different Emmett but I'm not sure I can explain it."
"You like him."
"A lot. He's the first person that I've liked this much in a very long time. Actually, if I am honest with myself, I'm not sure I've ever liked anyone as much as I like him." I replied and he grinned deviously.
"You know I'll still have to have that talk with him." I groaned.
"Do you have to?"
"It's my brotherly duties." He replied before his voice grew serious once again. "And I swear Bella… If he does anything to hurt you, I will make sure that this one never walks again."
I sighed and shook my head. Emmett was telling the truth. I just hoped that I could get him to see that things were different this time around. I was different. Things weren't going to end up the way they had before. Right?
A/N:
Okay… I realize it's not the BEST chapter I've written… It's more of a filler chapter… I wanted to see how people will respond if I bring in other characters POV… Hence my long section about Emmett. If you all like it I would like to further explore Emmett and Rosalie alongside of Edward and Bella… Though I'd like to bring Jasper and Alice as well the timing is just not right yet. Though Bella likes her, they still aren't close enough. Still… I might bring her in quicker as a comparison alongside Edward… We'll see… I want to see what people think.
So this was a chapter rich in dialogue… I hope that's okay… The next chapter should have more descriptions and internal feelings though even those might dissipate as the story goes along as both Bella and Edward have voiced their feelings for each other.
So… I'd really really like to get a lot of reviews for this chapter because I really am curious to see what you all thought of the section regarding Emmett and how things are playing out for Bella and Edward. I'm trying not to rush it too much…
Another thing: I've been toying with the idea of making a story for each book… I have plans for New Moon that I'm working through but I won't think too much about it if you all don't want that… Let me know so I can plan!
As always, thank you to my wonderful readers and reviewers!
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I'm looking forward to seeing what you all have to say about this new chapter!
Hopefully I'll post again this week! I hope you all had a great weekend!