A/N: you all are so awesome. I had so many great reviews from you all but the one that stood out the most was from eMmEtT's LiTtLe SiSs. It was by far the longest, most hyper, most fantastic review I ever got. So this chapter is dedicated to you, eMmEtT's LiTtLe SiSs but I hope you all enjoy it. Here's a nice long chapter for you all. Enjoy!

Emeralda Violeta

Chapter Nineteen: Promises

I was terrified and shaking really badly. The guy smiled with a mouthful of horrible yellow teeth. He loomed over me threatening with his knife, while his buddies held me. Blood was gushing down his chin and making me want to throw up all over his ratty old sneakers.

"I bet she's a virgin, boys. Huh, sugar? You untouched?" he said and the boys snickered. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of my answer. But I did struggle against their hold on me and glared like the expression could set them on fire and I hoped it did.

"I bet she's not. Probably some whore who just got off the day sift on some corner." Another guy, the one who now needed a testicle retrieval surgery, said in a high voice with a sneer.

That pissed me off. With a burst of speed and strength, I broke their hold on me and raced for the mouth of the alley. They were so stunned that it took them a few seconds to react. Then they were chasing after me.

I got to the street just as a pair of headlights turned fast onto it. Those guys were going to catch me again if I didn't do something. I dove in front of the car. It was either going to stop and help me or hit me.

The car stopped with a screech a foot away from me and all four of its doors opened and slammed. Then the growling started. It was loud, furious, and coming from five people. All five of the Cullen 'kids' was coming at my attackers.

Hope sprang up in me as I saw those guys back off at the sight of my protectors. They were they were more terrifying than anything I'd ever seen because they were rank pissed. Especially Emmett.

"What the fuck do we have here? You boys wanna throw down? Winner gets all three of those girls." The drunk guy with bad teeth and the broken nose drawled. Apparently he was stupid drunk but his boys, not so much. They were backing up fast.

"Emmett, get Bella out of here. We'll deal with these assholes." Jasper barked, like he was an army general leading an attack. Emmett nodded and broke ranks in their fighting formation.

"Get in the car, Bella." Emmett said, taking my arm carefully and leading me to the passengers' seat, where he shut me in. I was more than happy to do that.

"Hey, she's mine! Who the hell do you think you are, fucker? The drunk shouted angrily. By now his buddies found their balls and took out knives of their own.

That pissed Emmett off. "I'm her boyfriend, jackass. She belongs to me!" he shouted and lunged for the guy like he was gonna rip his head off.

His brothers stopped him. "Let us do that. Bella needs you right now." Edward pushed him back to the car. His instinct to protect me must have overridden the one he had to beat the guy to a bloody pulp I guess because he looked at me, where I was pressed to the window watching, and threw himself around the car and into the drivers' seat. Emmett threw the car in reverse and sped out of there as the fight got on.

"Bella, are you ok?" Emmett said tightly. His hands gripped the steering wheel so hard; he could have snapped it in half. I'd never seen him so mad. At least it wasn't at me.

"I think so." I said roughly and cleared my throat. "Are you?"

"Just promise me something, Bella." He said intensely. We were in the forest around the city now, far away from that horrible alley.

"Promise you what?" I asked nervously.

He stopped the car on the side of the road and turned his big body to face me, grabbing my face gently in his huge hands. His eyes burned as he said, "promise me you'll never wander off by yourself again. I almost didn't make it this time to save you and I cant bear to think of what would have happened if I hadn't. Promise me you'll never take yourself away from me. Promise you wont ever do that again."

My heart fluttered with the implications of what he said. Emmett never wanted to lose me. He almost was too late to save me from being raped and killed tonight. To stop myself from thinking, I started talking. "I promise. As long as you promise me not to leave me either. I never want to go through that so it wont happen again."

"I love you too much, Bella. I could never live without you." Emmett's lips came down on mine hard and needy. I gave him everything he asked for and gasped in pleasure as his hands drifted down my body.

Emmett pulled back, eyes full of panic. "Bella, love. You ok? This probably isn't something you can handle yet. I mean, you were just…" he let the sentence hang and I knew that he didn't want to remind me about what just happened.

It's ok, Emmett. I love you and I'd rather just think of that than what happened." I said with my hand on his cold cheek. Emmett was nothing like that guy who'd assaulted me. His breath was cool, sweet, and inviting while my attacker's had been hot, laced thickly with beer, and was revolting. Emmett is loving and gentle with me. That guy had left bruises. He was nothing like my Emmett.

"You sure? Not going into shock, are you?" Emmett seemed worried and his hands were frantic on my face.

"If I am, I wouldn't know. I do know that I'm grateful for you saving me. Again." I leaned into him, wanting to show my gratitude. Maybe I just wanted his lips on mine, though. Was that so bad?

The look on his face held me off. " I should have been there sooner. We were almost too late."

I didn't like the grim look on his perfect face. "But you weren't. How did you find me anyway?"

"My danger meter had been rising all day. When it got to critical, Alice had a vision of you in trouble. I was already in town, hoping you would be safe. The four of them showed up and said you needed help. Between Alice, Edward, and I, we were able to get to exactly where you were fast. I'd already felt the danger in that area but I didn't know you were there in it. If I had stayed there, the entire street block would have been rubble by the time I left. No one touches my girl." He said fiercely, growling in the back of his throat. Emmett was equally beautiful and terrifying but he was mine.

"Thank you for saving me. I don't know what I'd do without you, Emmett." I said and kissed him. That calmed him right down as he went for what he wanted. His big arms pulled me up against his body, dragging mine halfway across the seat divider. I didn't mind at all.

"I am proud of you, Bella. Even though it was stupid of you to try, you fought them off pretty well. You did more damage to them than they did to you." He chuckled with pride and satisfaction.

"I tried. My skin bruises easily but it doesn't hurt. I'll be fine." I said to reassure him. It was a good thing I was wearing a long-sleeved turtleneck so that the only bruise I would have is the one on my face.

"I want to kill those guys for even touching you. You wanna distract me so I don't?" Emmett really meant it. He was so pissed off he could have taken all of those guys on barehanded and won.

"I'm going to run Tyler Crowley over with my truck tomorrow at school." I blurted out because I was still seething about that. What the heck was he thinking? I'd never shown particular interest in anyone but Emmett.

"Why would you do that? Payback for him almost doing the same to you?" Emmett chuckled tightly.

"He's got it in his head that I'm going to prom with him. Prom! I wouldn't be caught dead there and he thinks I'm going with him. Never going to happen. No way!" I ranted, blowing off steam.

Emmett looked at me with a dimpled grin and smoldering eyes. "You are really cute when you're angry."

I was very aware of his big body underneath mine and his hands gripping my hips. His nose glided along the line of my jaw as I said, "really?"

"Not just cute. Pretty sexy actually. Your scent is gorgeous." Emmett's low voice replied, his sweet breath swirling in my head and making my heart beat faster. My hands went to his hair, feeling the soft curls. Emmett kissed my neck and my head fell back, exposing more skin.

A rhythmic tapping on the window made both of us crank our heads around. Alice was the tapper, the others standing behind her. They all looked at us from outside the car with grim satisfaction.

Emmett rolled the window down and said, "kinda busy here. Do you mind?" the irritation in his voice was cute.

"Yeah, I do mind. That's my car you want to get busy in!" Edward yelled, irritated and amused at the same time. I brushed at the implications of his words. We wouldn't have done that here.

I disentangled myself from Emmett and opened the car door. Sliding out of his hold on me was not something I really wanted to do but I did anyway. He got out of the car with me, keeping close.

"Bella, you should know that those scumbags are taken care of." Alice said softly, eyes full of concern for me.

"Taken care of, how?" I asked.

"In jail for previous assault charges. Those boys had a serious record to their names." Edward said with a tap on his temple. He'd obviously gotten a good look into those awful minds.

"But not before a quick beat down. Their leader had to be strapped to a gurney by some paramedics when the cops found them." Rosalie tacked on with clouded satisfaction.

" Thanks, you guys. I appreciate it." I said with a smile.

"Oh, come on, Bella. You're family." Alice trilled like she couldn't believe I didn't know that.

"And as Carlisle would say, we protect our family." Jasper added with a perfect impression of Carlisle.

I stumbled as I took a step toward them. They all rushed forward to catch me, arms wrapping tightly around me and staying there. Family, it felt so good to have a family.

"Promise not to ever do that again!" they said in unison.

"Ok, ok. I promise." I said as they stared at me, letting me know they were dead serious.

Edward's head snapped up suddenly a moment later without warning. "Bella, I think Jessica and Angela are going to start missing you soon. You've been away from them for too long."

It took me a minute for my body to go into full panic mode. "What time is it? I was supposed to meet them at 6:30. They must be freaking out!"

"Easy, Bella. Just relax. Emmett can drive you back to the restaurant in my Volvo." Edward said with a hand on my shoulder.

"After I fix her up." Alice said and pulled out a bag of cosmetic supplies. She fixed my hair and applied makeup to my face so you couldn't see the handprint across my cheek. The girl had some serious makeup skills.

After some quick goodbyes the other four, Emmett and I were in the Volvo and headed back into town. We got to the restaurant just as Jessica and Angela were leaving.

"Jess! Ang!" I called to them, getting out and running to meet them.

"Bella! Where have you been? We've been waiting and worrying about you." Angela said, hugging me tightly.

"That's my fault." Emmett said, coming up behind me. "We ran into each other and lost track of time. I'm sorry for keeping Bella from dinner." He lied smoothly.

"Um, yeah. That's okay. Would you like to join us?" Jessica stuttered, eyes fixed on Emmett in a way I didn't like.

"Actually, we already ate. But Bella, if you're hungry, we can hang around." Angela said honestly.

"It's not necessary for you to stay, ladies. I'll take Bella to dinner and drive her home afterward. I'd be happy to do it since it was my fault she missed dinner." Emmett said with a dazzling smile. Sounded good to me.

"That's so sweet." Jessica said, dazed.

"Yeah, so we'll see you tomorrow, Bella. Bye, Emmett." Angela said, hesitantly, like she didn't know if that's what I wanted or not.

I smiled and said, "see you tomorrow, guys."

When they left, Emmett tried to usher me into the restaurant and insisted that I let him buy me dinner. I was willing to pay but like his sisters, they refused to let me.

"Come on, let's make this our first real date." He said as he held the door open for me. I smiled and went in to make him happy.

The hostess reacted very strongly to out arrival. She went into full flirt mode with Emmett and ignored me completely. "Can I get you and your sister a table, sir?" she asked in a flirty voice, batting her eyelashes.

Sister? I am not Emmett's sister. I could tell she was really hoping I was though. She probably wanted to ask Emmett out and hoped I wouldn't get in the way. Too bad, chick.

"Can my girlfriend and I get a private booth, please?" Emmett asked, discreetly slipping her a large tip.

She frowned but said, "Right this way." The sway of her hips irritated me and I hoped Emmett wouldn't be looking at them. Clearly she didn't care that the guy she was flirting with had his girlfriend right there. Girls like that are embarrassments to themselves. To Emmett's credit, his eyes stayed on me and his hand landed on my waist.

"This is perfect. Thank you." Emmett said as we got to a booth in the back, away from the other customers. I slid in when Emmett gestured for me to.

"Of course. Let me know if you need anything else." She said with a double meaning. I had a feeling that if Emmett had asked her to let him drink her blood like the vampire he was, she'd get on the table and let him.

"I think we're ok." Emmett said as he slid in next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. The hostess left quickly after seeing that.

It was the same with the waitress. She ignored me and flirted with Emmett while he politely discouraged her. His attention never left me, which made me smile. The waitress and the hostess both were older and prettier than me but he didn't even look at them. I was the only person in the room that mattered, as far as he was concerned.

Emmett made me eat and drink, worrying that I would go into shock. He kept running his hands over my face and kissing me as I ate. I liked the attention. The waitress left more frustrated every time she came to our table.

When Emmett got the check, I thought I saw the corner of a napkin in the folder. He just tucked a fifty into it, handed it back without asking for change, and helped me out of the booth. The girl seemed disappointed. I almost felt sorry for her. Not enough to give up my Emmett though.

The ride home was too fast. We were having so much fun listening to our favorite music and talking that I didn't really notice time passing. I was surprised that there was not a single awkward pause between us during the ride. We were completely comfortable with each other, proof that I'd made the right decision to be with him. I dint want him to leave when we got to my house, especially since Charlie wasn't home yet. I didn't want to be alone.

"Charlie will be home in two minutes and I'll be back as soon as I can. You'll be fine until then, Bella. Just get in there and lock the door." Emmett said with a kiss. I nodded, got out of the car, and ran to the house. He left as I was locking the door.

Charlie showed up a minute later, too exhausted to even talk. He just disarmed, hugged me, and went upstairs to bed. Poor Charlie. I decided he didn't need to know about what had happened to me tonight. Ever.

I went to my own room after relocking the door and changed into my favorite sweatshirt and baggy pants. Then I got into bed and waited for Emmett.

The window coming open made me sit up so I could watch him come in. Emmett came over to me, laid down on my bed with me and wrapped his arms around my body.

Here with the steel cage of his limbs keeping me close to him, I really felt safe. Nothing could hurt me with him around.