Summary: Emmett disagrees with his family, especially Edward,for leaving a heartbroken Bella behind after her birthday incident, so he decides to return and care for her.

" I wouldn't have left her like you did!"

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Stephanie Myer is the respective owner, I'm just fooling around with the characters.

" You weren't kidding, were you?" Bella breathed as Emmett parked on the curb in front of a large, exotic-looking restaurant. The large, translucent windows displayed tables and tables of couples, wearing expensive-looking clothing and heavy jewelry- laughing and chatting, only making the atmosphere seem even more extrinsic.

" It's nice right? I passed it up a couple of times before and thought we could check it out. And from what I hear from the guests," He paused, listening in on the chatter through the windows.

" The food is exquisite," He finished jokingly, and exited the driver's side. He rounded the truck to Bella before she could get a grip on the handle and opened it for her. She softly thanked him and slid out of the truck, stumbling a bit when her feet touched the concrete. The more she grew used to the atmosphere, the more she realized this place seemed really familiar.

And then it clicked.

She had been to this restaurant before.

With Edward.

" It's not too much is it?" Emmett asked, sounding concerned. Bella averted her eyes to him and blinked, shaking her head. He must have noticed her stumble, well the stumbles she made weren't really considered to be reserved and unnoticeable. She reassuringly nodded her head, and faked a small smile, even though she was far from okay right now.

" No, it's fine, really. I'm actually really hungry too," She added, just to sugar coat the ever-growing lie.

He raised a brow at her. " You sure?"

She nodded. He smiled at her, then gestured for her to lead the way to the door. He kindly opened the door for her to step inside, and she did, almost hesitantly. She heard the door close and looked over to see him at her side again, and they walked to main booth where a blonde hostess had been seemingly awaiting their arrival from the moment they stepped in the door.

But when she gave Bella a once over, she frowned a little.

" Party of two, please," Emmett said, and the hostess nodded, glancing at Bella again, as she turned to the large book resting on a booth, flipping through a couple of pages.

" I assume you've made a reservation prior to coming here," She paused, arching a brow at the vampire. "No reservation, no service," She added, in a false enthusiastic sing-song voice.

" Cullen," He answered with a smirk. Bella whizzed her head towards him, utterly surprised; a jittery feeling in her stomach. He had planned this?

" Ah, here you are," She said finally, and snapped the book shut, and grabbed two menus. She stepped down from the booth and gestured down the small pathway to the other side of the restaurant.

" Come with me,"

Bella obediently followed, her eyes moving from Emmett's side to the floor every second. Emmett's voice brought her eyes to his again, and she swallowed, on the verge of having a meltdown. There was no way she could keep herself together, through all of this. It was already starting to get to be too much, and she hadn't even ate dinner yet.

" Are you sure you're okay Bella," Emmett pressed thoughtfully as they strode. Bella nodded reassuringly for what had to be the hundredth time that evening.

When they arrived at the booth, they each took a seat- Bella nearest the window, and Emmett across from her. The hostess smiled one last time before she excused herself, saying that the waiter would make an appearance very soon. They thanked her, and Bella shrunk in her seat a little when the hostess snuck yet another glance at her before she left.

" If I didn't know any better, I'd say the hostess has a girl crush on you," He proposed with a smirk.

Bella's flushed, but didn't speak. She was too wrapped up in keeping herself together, she could barely get words to come out of her mouth normally.

" Either that, or she has a serious staring problem. You know usually, I'm the one that gets checked out the most. Almost everyone here seems to be interested in you,"

That definitely threw her off. Almost everyone else recognized her too? She hadn't noticed that.. Well this was a small town.

The hostess even seemed as if she recognized her. If so, it had to be from her last visit with him. If that were true, then she must have been thinking all kinds of thoughts about her now, and why he wasn't here with her instead of Emmett.

That must have been why she had been giving her those odd looks. And apparently so has everyone else along with her.

Bella swallowed, and looked down.

" Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, his voice softer. The waiter arrived, saving Bella from having to poorly explain herself and she scrambled to get her menu to order. She wasn't really hungry- and definitely not after everything that was going on- but she chose something heavy- a plate of spaghetti and meatballs with salad on the side, and a tall glass of water.

Emmett ordered the same, but with a coke instead, and the waiter took the menus and left. It was almost amusing, how he actually ordered specifically like he was actually going to eat it. The food arrived just as soon as the waiter left and they thanked him in unison. Bella stared at her plate and picked up her fork, but never really started eating.

Her fork traced the outer lines of the intricate detailing of the plate, making small scraping noises as she went.

" When you said you were hungry, you weren't kidding were you?" He spoke suddenly, bringing Bella's eyes to his. She sighed.

" I'm sorry,"

" Can you please tell me what's going on?" He pleaded then. Bella swallowed. She didn't like to see him worried like this- in fact, she never saw him like this. And it hurt worse, knowing she would have to explain that his kind gesture only brought unwanted memories of his brother. She nervously tucked her hair behind her ear.

" You've been like this ever since we got here. I mean, sure, I practically dragged you here, but-"

" I've... been here before," She confessed.

" That's why you're acting so strange?," He paused with a grin. " If you want we can find somewhere else to go,"

" With Edward,"

" Oh," He replied, his voice serious now- his eyes soft.

" That explains why that waitress was giving you those looks," He paused, and Bella nodded slightly.

" Bella, I'm really sorry. Why didn't you tell me this before?"

" I didn't want to ruin anything. It would have just messed up the whole evening, because you would be concerned for me," She breathed, utterly embarrassed.

She knew her face was a hundred times redder then before now.

"Bella, I brought you here because I'm concerned for you," Was his reply, and Bella's eyes widened a little. He sighed, resting his elbows on the table.

" I have to be completely honest with you Bella- you were a whole hell of a lot healthier-looking before all this mess started. Now you just don't look like your usual self. I mean lets face it- you look like skin and bones. You could use a good meal,"

She didn't like this at all- Emmett feeling sorry for her. But I guess if you saw her situation it would be hard not to. It would be stupid to think her thin statue would get past him. He was telling the truth- even she noticed the severe distortion in her frame with her distraught mindset. To her abnormally small arms and waist, to the sunken dents in her cheeks.

But it was hard to even eat when she felt so despondent; so miserable. At times, it were even hard to think straight.

" I...I appreciate what you're trying to do Emmett but-"

" Just eat okay? Please, if not..for yourself then do it for me. I don't like seeing you like this, and neither should you," He interrupted. She obediently, but slowly picked up the thin piece of silver between her fingers and fiddled with it for a bit, before bringing it to the noodles plastered with red sauce, twirling it around. She met Emmett's eyes a couple of seconds before she brought the fork to her mouth, and finally consumed a forkful.

A shudder down her spine. That's what happened as soon as she took the first bite. It was the only one she had really taken for a couple of weeks, and the unfamiliarity of food slipping down her throat gave her a slight shock. Soon enough, as the food set into her stomach, she found herself wanting more, and ate another bite- this one bigger than the next.

And another.

She peeked at Emmett as she took a bite out of one of the tender meatballs to see he was fairly content now.

" Your cheeks are starting to puff up already," He commented, with a smile, and she blushed again as she swallowed. She finished her plate in less than five minutes and drank half of her glass of iced water. Without warning, Emmett pushed his plate towards her, nodding. Her eyes widened.

" I think I can handle skipping this meal. Go ahead," He gestured, and without blinking, she grabbed his plate and started eating.

When she finished, she downed her glass of water and sighed, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

" All finished?" She nodded sheepishly, and he called over the waiter to pay the bill. They left the restaurant then and he helped her into the truck before rounding towards the driver's side. Bella adjusted her seat belt, and leaned back into her seat as he started the engine. She watched him as he pulled out of his space at the curb and finally speed out onto the road.

She waited a couple of moments to speak. Finally, she asked him one of the million questions she had on her mind- the latter, growing on her list when they arrived at the restaurant.

" How did you get those reservations?"

He blinked a little, probably surprised that she asked that. But he had to have some kind of idea that she would question it. The situation had been rather odd.

" I made them...earlier in the year. They were for me and Rose,"

That surprised Bella, even though it should have. She was his mate, after all- there would have been no doubt in her mind the reservations were for the two of them. It was strange she never came up with that possibility on her own.

" I had made them earlier in the year, but we never got a chance to go. It would have been our second time going," He chuckled." We never ate, but Rose had grown quite accustomed to.. making fun of the other guests that dined there. It was something we both sort of bonded over when we weren't.. fighting or... you know, fornicating,"

She averted her eyes slightly to the window, her cheeks tinting pink, and heard him chuckle at her reaction. She knew it had to be hard though, being away from Rosalie. Bella never thought she would see that coming. Those two were inseparable no matter where they were. Wherever Emmett went, even when his eyes had been glued to a football game in the Cullen living room, Rosalie would be sitting right beside him, occupying her time with a fashion magazine in her perfectly manicured hands.

" I miss her, but I know that being here is more important," He stated then, and Bella couldn't believe what she was hearing.

" Emmett, being with Rosalie is more important. You're her mate. And you have family waiting for you. You shouldn't sacrifice your life just to...help me," She trailed off, answering one the questions she had had on her own. He had told her before, he came back to Forks for her. But being with his family, his wife, should have been his first priority.

After all, he shouldn't have anything to do with her. She was just the human his brother had started going out with. To be completely honest, they really didn't know too much about each other at all. She should have been the last thing on his mind when they left Forks. She wasn't his responsibility to look after.

She wanted him here- sure. She enjoyed his company, and she was truthfully content with the fact that one of the Cullens had come back over the course of a couple of months.

Sure it would be hard coping on her own, but it would be better than feeling sorry for what Emmett had to go through while he was here.

" Bella, I knew what I was getting myself into when I got here. I knew I would be risking it- my life with my family; my relationship with my wife. I chose do this on my own terms, because I understood that going through something like this wasn't going to be easy on you. You were in love with him- and you were welcomed into our family. And then we just left- took off like none of that mattered,"

Bella swallowed, every one of his words weighing her heart. Just him mentioning Edward along with it made the pain even worse. It hurt to think about it, what could have happened and what no longer was. But at times it was hard not to.

" I couldn't let it end like that. Even though we never really got to know each other better, I can honestly say that I care a lot about you Bella. Too much for you to ruin yourself. Besides, I have plenty of my life ahead of me,"

" Emmett please, as much as I appreciate you doing all of this, you're only giving yourself more of a burden than you should have to live with,"

He sighed then, looking over at her- his eyes weary. " I'm not leaving,"

Bella blinked in frustration and leaned back in her seat, chewing her bottom lip. She could only imagine how everyone else must have been feeling. And Rosalie. She had to be furious that Emmett had decided to leave her- a gorgeous blonde vampire with absolutely no flaws- who had been through nearly everything with him, for a weak, insanely- flawed human girl that couldn't walk to save her life .

She was never fond of her from the beginning, and now, all of this happened because of her..

Just earlier, she had been looking forward to Emmett staying in Forks with her- but that was before, when she hadn't really thought too much of anything else.

When she had been close to sounding selfish.

No words were exchanged for the rest of the car ride home.

Author's Note: As Emmett said in the last chapter, " Surprise!" I wrote all of this yesterday and finished in a couple of hours!

And I told you I'd make this chapter longer! I hope you enjoyed it! You guys really are awesome! I tried to update as soon as I could, so I hoped this made your day! Thank you soooo much for all of the alerts and reviews from jessa76, PiperMcLean351, doritotasticwizard, LittleSnidget, limezebra, PrincessB14, teamemmett1935, and Team- Sooric- Delena!

By the way, I'm not sure if Bella Italia( the name of the restaurant! It's real folks!) really does require reservations, but I decided to throw that in there for the drama! Hahaha, anyways, I have school again after Labor Day weekend so I am practically stoked for that.( note sarcasm)

How was your Labor Day weekend? What did you do? And also, if you are a Pretty Little Liar fan, how shocked were you when you saw that last snippet and discovered who the new A was?

I was utterly heartbroken.

Anyways, if you would like to see the next chapter...

You know what to do!

Review! :)