Not Without a Fight
Annaleise Marie

Round Twenty-One

AN: I guess it's a good thing I let go of the idea of limiting this story to twenty chapters, huh? That would have been a terrible place to end things.

After being away for so long, I was pretty impressed with the response to last chapter. I mean, not a HUGE amount of feedback, but I had a few people add this to their favorites and alerts, and the hit count was amazing for only around forty-eight hours! Which is awesome! :D Thanks to all of you! I thought for sure everyone – or nearly everyone – would have abandoned ship by now. I can't thank you guys enough for sticking around, and to my new readers, welcome! For being so awesome, have another chapter! I had hoped to post it last night, but well, two days is still pretty speedy, yes?

Let's light this candle, shall we?

I own a Citizen Eco-Drive watch because my dad doesn't know me at all but it's nice anyway. I do not, however, own Twilight. Stephanie Meyer, y'all.

X

EPOV

I didn't go to see Rosalie when we got back to Forks, despite Alice's urging. I didn't seek her out at school or after for the rest of the week, and I didn't look for her over the weekend, either. For her part, she didn't call.

I needed to figure out what had happened. Of course, the easiest way to do that would probably be to talk to her. I needed to talk to her anyway, about the move. I knew that, logically, and what Royce had said led me to believe that the move was at the center of this whole mess.

But fuck that. She was hiding shit, too. She had to know that we had gone after her to Insight. Alice had texted her when we were on the way and told her as much. But Rosalie had never replied, and Alice had never managed to get a straight answer out of her.

I hadn't asked. Truth be told, I was fucking terrified of what the answer would be.

I stopped sleeping again. By Monday I had achieved a near-zombie state.

"This is exactly what I was talking about," Mom said on Monday morning, setting her coffee cup unnecessarily hard, bringing me back to the present.

"What?" I asked, confused. My vision blurred as I tried to focus on her face, so I looked back down at my untouched toast.

"You're not sleeping. You have no appetite. You seem depressed and angry all of the time. You're getting into fights," she said, ticking off her points on her fingers. "It's just like I told that Hale girl. Ever since we moved here—"

"What?" I asked again. Something was tickling my mind, but I couldn't make it form into a complete thought.

"Ever since we came here, and you started seeing her, you've changed. And not for the better. She's a bad influence on you and—"

"You said that to Rosalie?" I asked. It was like the fatigue-induced fog was being blown from my mind.

"It's true," Mom insisted. "So when she came over here, asking about the move—"

"When?" I demanded. Mom looked startled. "When did you say all of this to her?"

"I don't know. Wednesday, I think?" she said. "Emmett, you know—"

"Christ, Mom," I grumbled, standing up and gathering my books and keys.

"Emmett—" she began again.

"I have to deal with this. I'll see you after school," I called back shortly as I rushed to the door.

I stepped outside, turning towards the Hale's driveway. Rosalie was backing out. I rushed across the grass and managed to reach the car just as she shifted from reverse to drive and tapped on the window.

She looked startled to see me but then rolled down the window.

"We need to talk," I said. She hesitated, biting her lip for a moment, then nodded and reached over to open the door.

"Get in," she said.

X

The ride to school was quiet, neither of us really knowing how to begin. Rosalie pulled into her normal parking spot, letting the engine idle. She was staring down at her hands, twisting her ring nervously. Finally, she cleared her throat.

"I guess you know that I know about the move," she said quietly. I nodded.

"I guess you know that I know about Royce," I said in return. She nodded. "What were you doing there?" She shrugged. "Don't give me that, babe. You had to have had a plan."

She took a shaky breath, opened her mouth and closed it again. I sighed, slouching down further in my seat. We were quiet for another moment.

"Did he do anything to you?" I asked finally. More than anything, that possibility had been torturing me since Thursday.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I went to ask him for a favor."

"What favor could you possibly need from Royce?" I asked, dumbfounded. Of all of the possible scenarios I had imagined, I had never considered anything close to that.

"I… I wanted him to make you break up with me," she said. My heart seemed to stop in my chest. I couldn't think, couldn't breathe. "I thought that if you thought I had gone to see him, voluntarily, after everything…"

"You want to break up?" I finally managed to ask, struggling to keep my voice even.

"No," she said, her voice breaking. "But I thought it would be easier if you broke up with me. Maybe it would hurt less for you. But we shouldn't be together. I talked to your mom, and she said that I'm at the center of all of your problems. I thought you were happy, but she was right. You've changed so much since we got together, and so much has happened, and I'm right at the center of all of it. I never wanted to hurt you. So I thought that if you broke up with me you could go back to how things were before. And then maybe your mom wouldn't feel like you had to move, and you could stay… And maybe, some day, we could try again, and get it right."

I took a minute to absorb this information. It made a twisted sort of sense, but at the same time…

"That is the worst fucking plan I have ever heard," I said. I felt the ridiculous urge to laugh, but I fought it. "I mean, seriously, that was the absolute worst plan ever."

We were quiet for a moment. Rosalie didn't look at me.

"My mom was wrong. And you were wrong, for that matter," I said. "I may seem different in some ways, but I'm never happier than I'm with you. Everything my mom talked about, everything that you think you've caused, they're all because I care about you so much, because I'm so happy with you. So when were fighting, or when something hurts you, it hurts me."

Rosalie finally looked up at me, her eyes searching mine. I searched for the words I wanted to say, tried to force myself to say them. It was ridiculous. It shouldn't be this hard to say it.

But, because Rosalie has always had the bigger balls in this relationship, she beat me to it.

"I love you," she said quietly. My heart gave an extra-hard beat. Rosalie loved me. Rosalie Hale loved me, Emmett Fucking McCarty. I didn't even have a title to go with that one.

Emmett Fucking McCarty, loved by Rosalie Hale.

That would work.

"I love you too," I said softly, taking her hand and running my thumb over her ring. "Don't ever try to lose me again."

"I won't," she said. "But I don't think I can stop it, either."

"Edward thinks he may have a plan," I said. "And I need your help to pull it off."

X

RPOV

"You have got to be kidding me," I said when Emmett had finished explaining, raising an eyebrow at him. "Edward is trading his help for sex with Bella?"

"When you say it like that it sounds like I'm pimping her out to him," he said, laughing as he searched his jacket and finally pulled out his cigarettes.

"Because you are," I pointed out. "Bella isn't like that."

"Like what?" he asked, laughing.

"Like… us," I said, shrugging. "She's like, super-pure. She blushes like mad when she just talks about kissing Edward."

"So she's a private person. She's still human," Emmett said, shrugging. "Anyway, we're not going to make her do anything she doesn't want to do. I'm just helping Edward set up a situation so that if it happens, it's all special and shit."

"Well, you do have a talent for that, I guess." Emmett lit his cigarette and then grinned at me widely.

"I aim to please," he said.

"Hmm. So you just want me to talk to her?"

"Yeah. Find out what she wants her first time to be like. Candles, the beach, a trampoline, I don't give a fuck," he said, shrugging.

"A trampoline?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Don't knock it. Although I wouldn't really recommend it either," he said.

"Doesn't it seem a little sketchy? All of us collaborating to take Bella's virginity?" I asked. He wrinkled his nose.

"Only when you keep referring to it in shady terms like that." He exhaled heavily, blowing smoke out the window. "Look, it's like I said, I'm just helping Edward set up the scene. Bella doesn't have to do anything. For all I care, they can go back to their century-old couple ways and spend the whole night watching Audrey Hepburn or reciting Jane Austen or whatever the fuck it is they do on the regular."

I laughed. Hopefully Bella's idea of a good first time wouldn't involve a trampoline. There were just some mental images I didn't need.

X

Breaching the subject of someone else's virginity – and how they would prefer to lose it – is even harder than you would imagine. First period was half over and I still hadn't managed to breach a subject more serious than the weather or Charlie's borderline obsession with baseball with Bella.

"So how was your weekend?" I asked, hoping that would steer the conversation towards Edward. Bella shrugged.

"It was nice. Edward and I went to dinner and a movie in Port Angeles," she said, smiling.

"Romantic," I said. Boring, I couldn't help but think. It seemed to be the same story every week when it came to Edward and Bella.

"Well, we were celebrating. Our college letters came on Saturday," she said.

College letters. I couldn't believe I had forgotten about them. With all of the excitement of the last few months, and Emmett's impending move in June, I hadn't even thought about what would happen that far in the future. But the truth was, our first term of college would start in less than eight months. I hadn't checked the mail over the weekend.

"Oh? So what's the verdict?"

"We both got into Washington State," she said happily.

"Going to college together?" I said carefully. "Of course, you've been together since the dawn of time, so it shouldn't be surprising."

"Yeah," Bella said, biting her lip. I wanted to bang my head against the desk. How did Emmett ever think I was going to get this out of Bella. Bella just wasn't the sort who talked about this sort of thing! Not in reference to herself, anyway.

"You and Emmett seem to be doing pretty well, all things considered," she remarked. I blinked.

"Yeah. He actually told me he loved me this morning," I said, smiling. Bella raised her eyebrows.

"Isn't it kind of soon?" she asked. I saw my opening and attacked.

"Well, everything with our relationship has been kind of fast," I said, smiling sheepishly. "So I guess it kind of fits. It just feels right with us, you know?" Bella nodded, her brow furrowing. "You okay?"

"Yeah. It's just… Well, without too much detail that I really don't need," she disclaimed, looking extremely uncomfortable. "What was it like? You know… the first time?" I laughed and she blushed harder. "I mean, it's just that I've never… you know."

"Yeah. Well, I guess it's probably different for everyone," I said. "With Emmett, it was really sweet and just… I don't know, kind of perfect. It had been snowing, and he took me out to this clearing and put on a slow song and asked me to dance with him, and it just seemed like the right time, I guess."

"Your first time was in the Jeep?" she asked, her eyes wide.

No, my first time was being held down on a dining room table while I begged for it to stop. I shook my head, forcibly clearing the thoughts. Emmett had been a clean slate. Everything before didn't count, didn't matter.

"No," I said. "We went back to his place. Anyway, it was pretty perfect. I'm surprised you and Edward haven't done it yet, though."

"Edward wants it to be special," she said, blushing. "I mean, we've done other things, but it's like this is supposed to be some big grand gesture."

"It should be," I said. Every girl's first time should be special. It shouldn't be scary, or rushed, or… I had to stop thinking this way. "How do you imagine it?"

Bella blushed again and shook her head.

"Oh, come on," I wheedled. "You can tell me."

"It just seems kind of personal."

"No one here but us," I said, gesturing to the empty office. It really had been quite the slow morning.

"I don't know," she said, biting her lip. "I guess I've never really thought about it. I mean, I guess I'd want something like your first time, if things like that were scripted or whatever. But with Edward, you know, we've been together for two years, and I love him and trust him, so it's not really necessary or whatever."

It was like chewing nails, trying to get anything out of Bella.

"But… Yeah, a sweet story like yours would be nice, I guess," she said after a pause, smiling slightly. "If I got to pick, you know." She shuffled the papers on the desk in front of her, clearing her throat. "Anyway, I'd better get these forms copied before Ms. Cope gets back."

She hurried from the office and I slumped down in my chair. I felt physically drained. Emmett didn't know the half of it when he had called Bella a 'private person'. All of that, and I still only had a half answer. It would have to be good enough, though, because I got the distinct impression that it was the most I was going to get out of her.

Edward had better have a brilliant fucking plan to win Carlisle's support, is all I'm saying.

X

"You mean I'm going to have to plan how another guy is going to take his girlfriend's virginity?" Emmett asked, grinning. I had just relayed my conversation with Bella to him at lunch.

"It was the best I could get out of her. She said that it didn't have to be anything special, but a 'sweet story like ours' would be nice," I said, shrugging and poking the questionable spaghetti on my cafeteria tray. "I figure it'd be pretty easy for you, after what you came up with for us."

"I wasn't trying to get you in bed at that point," he groaned, scrubbing his face in frustration. I smirked at him. "Okay, I was. It's pretty much all I was thinking about every waking moment. Still is. But I mean that that night really was only planned as a date."

"See? No pressure," I said. "Just plan a date for them."

"I knew you wanted to be asked to dance. I don't know anything about Bella," he explained. "And I get the feeling that if I just copy our date, it'll just seem like a rip-off."

"Fair point," I said, racking my brain for anything that might help. "Let's see… She's ridiculously clumsy. She's a straight-A student. She wants to become a teacher. She became a bit of an adrenaline junkie for awhile, but it seems like she grew out of it. She likes to read. Based on the books she reads I'd probably call her a classic romantic, but she's so damned private…"

Emmett sighed and pushed his tray away. I pushed it back.

"If you not eating is one of the things your mom is worried about, then you should eat," I pointed out and he grudgingly picked up his fork.

"I don't see you eating it," he pointed out.

"No one's worried about me."

"That's not entirely true," he countered. I raised my eyebrows. "Look, I get what you were trying to do by going to Royce, or what you think you were trying to do, or whatever, but doesn't it seem a bit strange to you?"

"I'm not worried about Royce," I said dismissively. It was true. I didn't think he'd try to hurt me as long as Emmett was around, and I knew that Royce had only applied to schools on the east coast, so he wouldn't even be around himself much longer.

"You should be," Emmett said softly. I felt my anger flare.

"I'm not going to spend my life being afraid of Royce," I snapped.

"I'm not saying you should. But he's proved he's dangerous, and you should be careful," he said. "I just don't want you to get hurt again. And I don't think you're dealing with it particularly well to begin with."

"I'm not dealing with it well?" I asked incredulously. The last time I checked, I wasn't the one who had been suspended for beating the shit out of him. Emmett sighed, shaking his head.

"I don't want to fight about this," he said, shaking his head. "I'm just worried about you, is all. You can't tell me you don't still think about it all the time. It doesn't just go away."

"I'm fine," I said firmly. Emmett stared at me hard for a moment and I decided to change the subject back. The problem with Bella and Edward was way easier to deal with. "Anyway, I don't understand why Edward doesn't just take her to prom and get laid the old-fashioned way, like every other teenager in the history of the world."

"Prom?" Emmett asked, furrowing his brow. "When is that?"

"April," I said, shrugging. Prom wasn't really my kind of thing, so I hadn't given it much thought.

"That's like three months away. I guess he's getting impatient," Emmett said with a grin.

"How romantic."

"Human, like I said," Emmett said. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, so what are you going to do, then?" I asked. He shrugged, shaking his head.

"No idea. But I need Dr. Cullen's help, so I've gotta think of something," he said.

"Hey, what're you guys talking about?" Alice set her tray down beside me, Jasper following closely behind her.

"Nothing—" I started to say, but Emmett answered before I had the word out.

"Trying to get Edward and Bella to do the horizontal tango," he said.

"Really?" Alice asked, wrinkling her nose. "Isn't that something they should be… handling on their own?"

"Thank you," I said, looking at Emmett pointedly.

"Edward is completely incapable of figuring this out for himself," Jasper said, shrugging. "I mean, he's a good guy, and he's ridiculously smart, but he's got it so built up in his head as this big important thing that he's pretty much paralyzed himself."

"It is a big important thing," Alice argued.

"Yeah, but it's not like it has to be some big production. It's a natural part of life," Jasper pointed out.

"Oh yeah, nature man?" Alice asked, grinning. "You want to tell them about our first time?"

"Alice," Jasper said warningly. "Anyway, are you making any progress?" he asked. I got the feeling he was trying hard to steer the conversation away from the subject of him and Alice.

"Absolutely nothing. Other than that Bella wouldn't mind a 'sweet story' sort of deal with it," Emmett grumbled.

"How very specific," Alice said. "Oh! You could try recreating their first date!"

"How do you even remember their first date?" Jasper asked.

"It was cute, and Bella and I were comparing notes because you and I had just been on our first date," Alice explained. "Anyway, he tried to be all fancy and took her to this coat-and-tie type of restaurant in Port Angeles for dinner, and afterwards they were walking on the pier and well, you know Bella. She fell smack in the water, and Edward went in after her and pulled her back to shore. And then they had their first kiss."

"It's a cute story, but I don't know if throwing her off of a Port Angeles pier would really get her in the mood," Jasper pointed out. He had a point.

"I didn't mean an exact recreation. Maybe dinner and a walk along the shore or something," Alice said, pouting.

"Beach sex," Jasper mused. "Pretty ambitious for a first time."

"All that sand," Alice muttered mournfully.

"Thanks, you guys have been absolutely no help," Emmett grumbled, idly poking his food. I nudged his tray pointedly and he took a bite of his spaghetti. "I don't think a lack of appetite is responsible for my lack of interest in eating this," he said, grimacing.

X

EPOV

When I got home from school I was still no closer to a plan than I was when I had started. Maybe I'd just suggest some candles and sappy music and let a good old standby do the job. Girls seemed to like that shit.

Mom was in the living room when I came home and I steeled myself when she spotted me and stood up, but she was smiling.

"Your college letters came in," she announced. "Penn State, Virginia Tech, George Mason, University of Baltimore, and Johns Hopkins."

I walked over and took the envelopes numbly. I couldn't believe I hadn't even thought of this. When I applied to colleges, I was living in Maryland, so I hadn't even considered applying on the west coast.

No matter which school I had been accepted to, I would be moving this summer.

X

AN: Something. Has. To. Get. Resolved. How do you guys put up with me?

Well, I guess I don't have a ton to say about this chapter, so I'll just turn it over to you guys! Thoughts, comments, questions? I appreciate and reply to all!

Also I've realized that my chapters are a LOT shorter than they used to be. I promise that will change as I get more into the swing of writing again, so please bear with me. :D This chapter is almost twice as long as the last, so, progress, right?

Also, also, I was considering putting up previews for future chapters on my livejournal, the way I do for my HP fics. Would anyone be interested in that? Let me know. The interest in it will determine whether I bother to do it. :3