AN: Bit longer, aren't you lucky? And of course I'm continuing the story - there is no 'Complete' written on that story status yet, and probably won't be for a very long time ;] This chappy eases us into the real plotline, I guess. The next chappy even more so :]

Disclaimer: I can claim nothing!

March 16th 2002

Emmett sat behind Bella on her bed as she cried. He had his huge arms around her and his head on her shoulder, tucked into her neck. He comforted her as best as he could; he had almost chased her to his car when she burst through the school doors in tears. Some jackass had humiliated her in front of the entire class. Emmett wanted to strangle the little bastard.

"Bells," he whispered softly, his breath warming the skin on her throat, "don't listen to him. Being a virgin isn't a bad thing." He made his tone sound lighter, "In fact, it's a very good thing."

She laughed brokenly and leaned back further into his embrace. He couldn't understand why she cared; she was only fourteen after all. It wasn't like she was thirty-two.

"Bella, listen to me," he murmured lovingly, pressing his head to hers, their cheeks and ears touching intimately, "you're underage. It's illegal for you to even have sex – the law must know what it's talking about, right? You don't need to have sex now. Just wait a few years… or a hundred, that works too."

She smiled, turning in his arms to snuggle into his lap. He clutched her tighter and pulled her small, warm body closer to his built frame. Fuck, he loved this girl. More than air. More than life. More than anything. He couldn't live without her around. Charlie had once said that they were attached at the hip and he was right. They didn't separate any longer than they needed to. It was almost unhealthy – they were so co-dependent on each other, and yet nobody had the heart to break them up.

"That's easy for you to say," she muttered into his chest, hands gripping his shirt desperately. "You have a new girl on your arm every week."

He closed his eyes. It was true that he wasn't the best example – far from it in fact. He was the stereotypical, seventeen-year-old jock. He didn't like to have a girl hang around him for too long (only his Bellsy had that privilege), so he fucked them and then left them. But, that didn't mean he wanted her to invite tons of guys into her bed like the sluts he slept with.

"Don't be like me," he pleaded, his voice cracking. She hugged him tighter in response and kissed his jaw.

Once Emmett had started high school, both Charlie and Renée agreed that spending time away from school wasn't best for his education. With Bella following him into higher learning two years later, they hardly ever saw their father anymore – the odd birthday or Christmas here and there was all Renée allowed. She had gotten quite paranoid when they hit puberty; she always muttered about how they would choose her ex-husband over her if she let them be together enough. Emmett made sure to call their dad every few weeks or so, just to keep him up to date, and then he'd hand the phone over to Bella who'd talk awkwardly to Charlie for twenty minutes then hang up. His little sister most certainly wasn't a social butterfly, unlike himself.

With Renée never around and a recently turned twelve-year-old sibling who had no one to care for her, Emmett stepped up and became almost like a brother/mom/dad combo. When their mother married Phil Dwyer, he let himself hope things might change and Bella could have the parents she desperately needed. However, while Phil was plenty capable of looking after their little family financially, he didn't have the firm hand required to keep Renée in line; instead he'd go along with her stupid plans.

"Gym was really horrible today – we did lots of laps round the track," Bella murmured and looked up at her brother.

He smiled slightly. "I'm guessing you want a shower?"

She nodded. He picked her up, bouncing her in the air to make her squeal with laughter, and carried her into the bathroom. He helped undress her and held out a hand for her to hold and steady herself with as she stepped into the slippery shower. He checked to make sure she was balanced on the tiles before stripping down quickly and getting in behind her, the shower door closing with a click. Bella helpfully turned around so that he could wash her back with the soap. The shower wasn't very spacious, and Emmett's muscular frame made it even worse, so they had to squeeze together a bit. Thankfully she was only small, her body petite – the reason he called her a midget.

He gently moved around the soapy suds, caressing her skin. She pulled her hair over her shoulder so it didn't obstruct him. Bathing together felt perfectly normal for the two teenagers; they honestly didn't see it as wrong. Their tight knit relationship led to many rumours, but it was just how they were raised: Emmett did everything for her, and in turn, he couldn't stand to be without her for long, having had Bella's constant company throughout his life.

When he twisted her body to face the showerhead, letting the water chase away all the suds, he collected more soap in his huge hand and bent down to wash her flower. In his mind, the sluts he slept with had pussies, but his little sister would always have her innocence and her 'flower'. (His dinky on the other hand couldn't be called that since years ago when he lost his virginity at thirteen.) The pubic hair that had started developing when Bella had been twelve was trimmed and maintained. He made sure she looked after herself – when she asked him to do it he couldn't in fear of hurting her.

His fingers made sure to soak every delicate petal of her flower with soap, absentmindedly curling the short hair around his pinkie finger. Emmett glanced up when he felt her shiver. The water wasn't cold – so it couldn't have been because of the temperature… With their earlier conversation drifting into his mind, he took a moment to study his little sister's naked body. It was now curved by womanly hips and growing breasts, the nipples pert and light brown. Bella wasn't a child anymore; and being the teenager she was, she now felt those hormones that Sue Clearwater told him about so many years ago.

Emmett continued to stare at his baby sister's bare figure, hands still stroking her, until his dick suddenly twitched in delight. Fighting a wanton groan, he stood up abruptly, scaring Bella. She looked at him, startled, but his eyes were wide and he kept stuttering.

"Emmy," she asked worriedly, reaching for him, "what's wrong?"

He backed away instantly, his back slamming against the shower's glass door. She put her hands on his chest, one directly above his rapidly thumping heart. He seemed to flinch. This had never happened to him before. He tried to convince himself that it wasn't happening now either… But it was.

He was sexually attracted to his little sister's naked body.