The day at school was going by very uneventful, by lunch time I was wishing the day was over, I almost had to drag myself towards the cafeteria when suddenly someone caught my arm and spun me, I focused my vison to see Emmett stood grinning at me,

"you seriously have to stop doing that" I said with a little laugh,

"fancy skipping the rest of the day?" Emmett asked, I grinned,

"it's like you read my mind" I grinned, he gave me a grin to which I smiled and followed him towards the parking lot, I looked confused as we were walking past the jeep,

"erm Em?" I asked confused glancing at the jeep, he grinned once again,

"do you trust me?" he asked almost sinister, I gave a unsure laugh,

"yes?" I answered slowly, unsure about where this was going, he leaned him so his mouth was next to my ear,

"close your eyes Lil" he whispered, they almost closed involuntary as my body almost lost all control, suddenly I felt wind flying through my hair, I squeezed my eyes shut tight and hung onto Emmett for my life.

When we suddenly stopped, I peeked one eye open to find us next to a lake in the middle of the beautiful meadow,

"it's gorgeous" I said opening my eyes and looking around still holding onto Emmett's arms,

"I'm looking at better" Emmett said, I turned confused to see him staring at me, I blushed and smacked his arm,

"come on I got you food" Emmett said pulling me towards a blanket that was all set up.

We chatted about everything and nothing while sat in the sun, the light reflecting off Emmett's skin causing me to fall harder and harder for this vampire sat in front of me,

"so that's my family, tell me about you and yours" I said as I put down my juice bottle,

"what do you want to know?" Emmett asked leaning back onto his elbows, I tried not to let the sight of his perfect framed body distract me,

"okay . . . how old are you?" I asked smiling, he grinned,

"I'm nineteen" he said, I laughed,

"okay fine, how long have you been nineteen?" I asked again, Emmett grinned,

"a long time" I laughed,

"come on tell me, I want to know everything about you" I said with a curious tone, Emmett frowned a little,

"will it matter to you?" he asked quietly, I reached over touched his hand,

"nothing you say will change how I feel Em" I said honestly looking straight into his eyes, he sighed and sat up straight,

"I was born in 1915 and grew up in the small town called Gatlinburg, near Tennessee, I was part of a large Scotch-Irish family with brothers and a younger sister, I had what my parents considered a wild adolescence, I was never one to worry about consequences and preferring to gamble, drink, and womanize and Hunt, I used to work on the railroad with my older brothers and loved hunting every chance I got, always bringing the game home for my mother, It was1935 when Rosalie came across me, I had been mauled by a black bear in the mountains of Tennessee. I had nearly died from the attack, but Rosalie saved me and carried me over a hundred miles back to Carlisle, when I was turned I knew as much as I loved my family, I could no longer go back, I had Lucas and Edward prepare a bag of fortune in the hope of easing my families pain over losing me, and I personally left it on the porch, I left and haven't looked back since then, but Lil I'm no angel, I did have trouble adjusting to the animal blood and has tasted human blood on several occasions, but Lil I swear nothing would ever happen to you, I would rather die than that happen" Emmett said looking almost ashamed of himself, I sat there processing it all before and slowly got onto my knees and lifting his face with my hands so his golden eyes reflected into my own brown ones,

"Em, I would trust you with my life forever" I whispered, without a second thought I slowly closed the gap between us and our lips met, I was careful to make sure I didn't push him too far and let him take the lead, suddenly I was laying on the blanket with him hovering over me, the kiss became deeper and It felt like nothing I had ever experienced before, suddenly his lips were off mine, I took a deep breathe and could feel the blush spreading along my cheeks and he stared down at me,

"Liliana Swan, your too pure for your own good" he whispered placing his forehead against mine, I smiled a little and gave a little shrug,

"come on, we should carry on talking before you push my resolve any further" he muttered and sat us back upright, I smiled and felt my blush firmly on my cheeks,

"how about the rest of your family? How did you all end up together" I asked trying to take my mind off what had just happened,

"Edward was the first to join the family, he was born in Chicago in 1901, Carlisle found him in a hospital in the summer of 1918. He was seventeen, and dying of the Spanish influenza though he found Esme soon after. She fell from a cliff, they brought her straight to the hospital morgue, her heart was still beating though so that's where Carlisle changed her" Emmett explained, I looked confused,
"So you must be dying, then, to become…" I never said the word, but Emmett understood,
"No, that's just Carlisle. He would never do that to someone who had another choice." The respect in his voice was profound whenever he spoke of his father figure, I smiled a little,

"It is easier he says, though, if the blood is weak " he said quietly,
"And Lucas and Rosalie?" I asked intrigued about everyone,
"Carlisle brought Rosalie to our family next, It was only two years later that she found me, about three years after that we were in Appalachia at the time, and found Lucas, he had been shot in another hunting accident, Rose felt the pull to him immediately and she carried him back to Carlisle and they've been together ever since. Sometimes they live separately from us, as a married couple. But the younger we pretend to be, the longer we can stay in any given place. Forks seemed perfect, so we all enrolled in high school, I suppose we'll have to go to their wedding in a few years, again" He laughed, I smiled, the thought of being with the one you love for the rest of your life,
"Alice and Jasper?" I asked,
"Alice and Jasper are two very rare creatures, Jasper belonged to another… family, a very different kind of family. He became depressed, and he wandered on his own. Alice found him, she has certain gifts above and beyond the norm for our kind" Emmett explained, I looked at him curiously and he continued,
"She sees things, like things that might happen, things that are coming, but it's very subjective. The future isn't set in stone. Things change." His jaw set when he said that, and his eyes darted to my face and away so quickly that I wasn't sure if I only imagined it,
"What kinds of things does she see?" I asked quickly,
"She saw Jasper and knew that he was looking for her before he knew it himself. She saw Carlisle and our family, and they came together to find us. She's most sensitive to non-humans. She always sees, for example, when another group of our kind is coming near. And any threat they may pose" Emmett explained to me, I thought for a second before answering,
"Are there a lot of… your kind?" I was surprised. How many of them could walk among us undetected?
"No, not many. But most won't settle in any one place. Only those like us, who've given up hunting humans, can live together with humans for any length of time. We've only found one other family like ours, in a small village in Alaska, where Edward went when you first moved here. We all lived together for a time, but there were so many of us that we became too noticeable" he explained, I nodded fascinated by everything,

"And the others?" I enquired,
"Nomads, for the most part. We've all lived that way at times. It gets tedious, like anything else. But we run across the others now and then, because most of us prefer the North" he said looking at me, I guessed trying to see when I would run off in fear,
"Why is that?" I asked again, Emmett laughed,
"Did you have your eyes open this afternoon?" he teased,

"Do you think I could walk down the street in the sunlight without causing traffic accidents? There's a reason why we chose the Olympic Peninsula, one of the most sunless places in the world. It's nice to be able to go outside in the day. You wouldn't believe how tired you can get of night time in eighty-odd years" Emmett said and laughed, I smiled,
"So Alice came from another family, like Jasper?" I said grabbing a strawberry and putting it into my mouth,
"No, and that is a mystery. Alice doesn't remember her human life at all. And she doesn't know who created her. She awoke alone. Whoever made her walked away, and none of us understand why, or how, he could. If she hadn't had that other sense, if she hadn't seen Jasper and Carlisle and known that she would someday become one of us, she probably would have turned into a total savage" Emmett said with a frown, I nodded slowly,

"I should get you back, it's a lot to take in" he said with a slight frown looking away, I now frowned myself,
"I want to stay with you." It was easier to say with him looking away, knowing as I spoke how my voice would betray me, my hopeless addiction to him, Emmett turned to me and grinned,

"how about we continue this at your house then?" Emmett said smiling, I paled for a moment,
"Can't I come inside your house?" he asked, teasing me a little,
"Would you like to?" I couldn't picture it, this godlike creature sitting in my father's shabby kitchen chair, and me trying to think whether my room was a mess,
"Yes, if it's all right." I heard him say, and almost simultaneously he was stood up with his hand extended out to me,
"Very human," I complimented him smiling,
"It's definitely resurfacing" Emmett said joking with me, I smiled and let him pull me up.

It was dropping dark when we pulled up outside the house, I blushed as he opened the door for me,
He walked beside me so quietly I had to peek at him constantly to be sure he was still there. In the darkness he looked much more normal. Still pale, still dreamlike in his beauty, but no longer the fantastic sparkling creature of our sunlit afternoon in the meadow, He reached the door ahead of me and opened it for me. I paused halfway through the frame.
"The door was unlocked?" I asked confused,
"No, I used the key from under the eave" he said with a grin, I nodded and stepped inside, flicked on the porch light, and turned to look at him with my eyebrows raised. I was sure I'd never used that key in front of him.
"I was curious about you" he said with an innocent look and a shrug,
"You spied on me?" But somehow I couldn't infuse my voice with the proper outrage. I was flattered.
"What else is there to do at night?" He said sound unrepentant, I let it go for the moment and went down the hall to the kitchen. He was there before me, needing no guide. He sat in the very chair I'd tried to picture him in. His beauty lit up the kitchen. It was a moment before I could look away.
"How often?" I asked casually, as I also sat at the table,
"Hmmm?" He sounded as if I had pulled him from some other train of thought.
"How often did you come here?" I asked genuinely intrigued,
"I come here almost every night" Emmett said shrugging, I was a bit taken back, stunned by his answer,

"Why?" I asked him
"You're interesting when you sleep, you talk, both you and Bella" He spoke matter-of-factly, I paled at the thought,
"No!" I gasped, heat flooding my face all the way to my hairline. I gripped table for
support. I knew both me and Bella talked in our sleep, of course; my mother teased us about it. I hadn't thought it was something I needed to worry about here, though, his expression shifted instantly to chagrin,

"Are you very angry with me?" Emmett said looking directly at me,
"That depends" I felt and sounded like I'd had the breath knocked out of me, He waited and then spoke when I didn't continue,
"On?" he urged smiling,
"What you heard" I said quickly stating the obvious, Instantly, silently, he was at my side, taking my hands carefully in his.
"Don't be upset!" he pleaded. He dropped his face to the level of my eyes, holding my gaze. I was embarrassed. I tried to look away, but couldn't
"You miss your mother," he whispered. "You worry about her. And when it rains, the sound settles you, you also worry about Bella too" he said and laughed softly, hoping I guess not to offend me further.
"Anything else?" I demanded, worried about the contents of my recent dreams, he knew what I was getting at,

"You did say my name," he admitted grinning, oh I wish the ground would swallow me whole now, I sighed in defeat,

"A lot?" I quietly asked,
"How much do you mean by 'a lot,' exactly?" he said grinning
"Oh no!" I hung my head, he pulled me against his chest, softly, naturally and whispered,
"Don't be self-conscious," he whispered in my ear. "If I could dream at all, it would be about you. and I'm not ashamed of it." Emmett said, I looked at him and we started to close the gap between us once again before we both heard the sound of tires on the brick driveway, saw the headlights flash through the front windows, down the hall to us. I stiffened in his arms.
"Should your father know I'm here?" he asked cheekily,
"I'm not sure…" I tried to think it through quickly.
"Another time then…" Emmett whispered as his lips brushed mine and suddenly I was alone, I quickly looked around
"Emmett!" I hissed, I heard a ghostly chuckle, then nothing else.
My father's key turned in the door.
"Bella? Liliana?" he called out from the hallway,
"In here" I hoped he couldn't hear the hysterical edge to my voice, His footsteps sounded so noisy after my day with Emmett, he came in and smiled and sat in the chair Emmett had just been in,
"How was your day?" I asked smiling trying to act as normal as possible,
"Good. Long but good, where's your sister?" dad asked, I suddenly stopped in my tracks, where was she? I panicked for a second,

"right here dad" Bella said entering the kitchen, grinning, I looked at her confused,

"you been there…?" I asked suddenly wondering if she heard me and Emmett, she grinned,

"yep all the time" she grinned at me, I blushed and quickly looked away, dad looked between us confused,
"something I should know?" dad asked confused,

"nothing dad, Ana was just on the phone telling them what a wonderful day she had" Bella said, I opened my mouth then closed it, dad looked at me confused,

"it was mom and It was a nice day, the weather was nice wasn't it" I said quickly, he agreed and turned to talk to Bella, I sighed in relief what an understatement, I thought to myself.
" I'm tired. I'm going to bed early" I announced wanting to escape this room, dad looked at me confused,
"You look kinda keyed up," he noted. Why, oh why, did this have to be his night to pay attention? I panicked for a second,
"Do I?" was all I could manage in response, he eyed me carefully, dad knew me too well,
"None of the boys in town your type, eh?" He was suspicious, but trying to play it cool, I nearly choked as Bella laughed,
"No, none of the boys have caught my eye yet." I was careful not to over-emphasize the word boys in my quest to be truthful with Charlie, technically Emmett was over one hundred years old, so definitely not a boy,
"Well, you're too good for them all, anyway. Wait till you get to college to start looking." Every father's dream, that his daughter will be out of the house before the hormones kick in.
"Sounds like a good idea to me," I agreed as I headed up the stairs trying to escape his questioning,
"'Night, honey," he called after me,
"See you in the morning, Dad." I called as then I heard him turning his questioning towards Bella, serves her right I thought,
I walked up the stairs to my room, quickly shutting the door loud enough for them to hear, and then sprinted on my tiptoes to the window. I threw it open and leaned out into the night. My eyes scanned the darkness, the impenetrable shadows of the trees.
"Emmett?" I whispered, feeling completely idiotic not knowing if he was still here or not, the quiet, laughing response came from behind me.

"Yes?" I whirled, one hand flying to my throat in surprise, to see him laying across my bed, his hands behind his head, his feet dangling off the end, the picture of ease with a huge grin on his face,
"I'm sorry." He pressed his lips together, trying to hide his amusement, I smiled,
"Just give me a minute to restart my heart" I said joking, he sat up slowly, so as not to startle me again. Then he leaned forward and reached out with his long arms to pick me up, gripping the tops of my arms like I was a toddler. He sat me on the bed beside him.
"Why don't you sit with me?" he suggested, putting a cold hand on mine. "How's the heart?" he said grinning at me, I smiled
"You tell me — I'm sure you hear it better than I do." I said and I felt his quiet laughter shake the bed. We sat there for a moment in silence, both listening to my heartbeat slow. I thought about having Emmett in my room, with my father in the house.
"Can I have a minute to be human?" I asked trying not to blush,
"Certainly." He gestured with one hand that I should proceed.
"Stay," I said, trying to look severe and scary looking,
"Yes, ma'am." And he made a show of becoming a statue on the edge of my bed. I hopped up, grabbing my pajamas from off the floor, my bag of toiletries off the desk. I left the light off and slipped out, closing the door.
I could hear the sound from the TV rising up the stairs. I banged the bathroom door loudly, so dad wouldn't come up to bother me. I meant to hurry. I brushed my teeth fiercely, trying to be thorough and speedy, but the hot water of the shower couldn't be rushed. It unknotted the muscles in my back, calmed my pulse. The familiar smell of my shampoo made me feel like I might be the same person I had been this morning. I tried not to think of Emmett, sitting in my room, waiting, because then I had to start all over with the calming process. Finally, I couldn't delay anymore. I shut off the water, rushing again. I pulled on my holey t-shirt and gray sweatpants. I almost kicked myself for not packing the Victoria's Secret silk pajamas my mother got me two birthdays ago, which still had the tags on them in a drawer somewhere back home.
I rubbed the towel through my hair again, and then yanked the brush through it quickly. I threw the towel in the hamper, flung my brush and toothpaste into my bag.
I took the stairs two at a time back up to my room trying to be quiet, and flew into my room, closing the door tightly behind me.
Emmett hadn't moved a fraction of an inch, a carving of Adonis perched on my faded quilt. I smiled, and his lips twitched, the statue coming to life. His eyes appraised me, taking in the damp hair, the tattered shirt. He raised one eyebrow.

"Nice" he said giving me another glance up and down, I grimaced, he smiled again,
"No, it looks good on you." He said staring into my eyes,
"Thanks," I whispered. I went back to his side, sitting cross-legged beside him. I looked at the lines in the wooden floor,

"let me know if dad is coming" I said a bit panicked, he looked confused,
"Apparently, I look a little overexcited" I said blushing again, he lifted my chin, examining my face.
"You look very warm, actually" Emmett said grinning, he bent his face slowly to mine, laying his cool hand against my skin. I held perfectly still.
"Mmmmmm…" he breathed, it was very difficult, while he was touching me, to frame a coherent question. It took me a minute of scattered concentration to begin.
"It seems to be… much easier for you, now, to be close to me" I almost stuttered,
"Does it seem that way to you?" he murmured, his nose gliding to the corner of my jaw. I felt his hand, lighter than a moth's wing, brushing my damp hair back, so that his lips could touch the hollow beneath my ear, I gulped,
"Much, much easier," I said, trying to exhale.
"Hmm." He whispered,
"So I was wondering…" I began again, but his fingers were slowly tracing my collarbone, and I lost my train of thought,
"Yes?" he breathed, his lips tickling my neck now, I gulped again, nothing more than to kiss him again, but then suddenly he pulled away, I frowned
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked concerned, he frowned again

"No, the opposite. You're driving me crazy" he explained looking at me with almost hunger in his eyes, I looked confused,

"Edward" he said finally, I was confused I glanced around,

"he's in Bella's room, waiting for her" Emmett explained, I blushed, and moved a bit away from him,
"oh" I simply said, Emmett frowned,

"he's worried were getting too. . . close" Emmett said trying to find the right word, I blushed again,

"he's worried I'll lose control over your sent because I've been with you all day" Emmett explained, I was still confused, so he carried on,

"I've had the scent of you in my head all day, and I've grown amazingly desensitized. If I'm away from you for any length of time, I'll have to start over again, not quite from scratch, though, I think." He explained, I nodded and then smiled,
"Don't go away, then," I responded, unable to hide the longing in my voice.
"That suits me," Emmett grinned and replied, his face relaxing into a gentle smile,

"Bring on the shackles — I'm your prisoner." But his long hands formed manacles around my wrists as he spoke. He laughed quietly and I chuckled myself,
"Do you remember the day that Mike asked you to the dance?" Emmett suddenly asked, I nodded, confused where this was going,
"I was surprised by the flare of resentment, almost fury, that I felt, I didn't recognize what it was at first. I was even more aggravated than usual, was it simply for your friend's sake? Was there someone else? I knew I had no right to care either way. I tried not to care, and then the line started forming," he chuckled. I watched him curiously as he explained,

"I waited, unreasonably anxious to hear what you would say to him, to watch your expressions. I
couldn't deny the relief I felt, watching the annoyance on your face. But I couldn't help myself, I was jealous, I didn't want you with him, he doesn't deserve you, that was the first night I came here. I wrestled all night, while watching you sleep, with the chasm between what I knew was right, moral, ethical, and what I wanted. I knew that if I continued to ignore you as I should, or if I left for a few years, till you were gone, that someday you would say yes to Mike, or someone like him. It made me angry, and then," Emmett pulled me so we were lying face to face to each other, "as you were sleeping, you said my name. You spoke so clearly, at first I thought you'd woken. But you rolled over restlessly and mumbled my name once more, and sighed, the feeling that coursed through me then was unnerving, staggering. And I knew I couldn't ignore you any longer." He was silent for a moment, probably listening to the suddenly uneven pounding of my heart, I bit the inside of my cheek trying to control the blush once again creeping onto my cheeks,
"That made you feel jealous, though, really?" quietly, wondering how anyone who looks like a Adonis like him would be jealous over little me,
"I'm new at this; you're resurrecting the human in me, and everything feels stronger because it's fresh" he explained, I smiled,

"there was better people to be jealous of" I whispered,
"There's no competition." His teeth gleamed. He drew my trapped hands around his back, holding me to his chest. I kept as still as I could, even breathing with caution, he lower his lips to mine, the feelings rushing through my body hit me like a freight train, we pulled back and he grinned at me, I blushed,
"you should sleep" he whispered to me,
"Right, like I could sleep with you here" I said smiling
"You do it all the time," he reminded me, I laughed a little,
"But I didn't know you were here," I replied icily.
"So if you don't want to sleep…" he suggested, ignoring my tone. My breath caught.
"If I don't want to sleep… ?" I asked carefully, he chuckled.

"What do you want to do then?" he said bringing his lips closer to mine again, suddenly he let out a low growl,

"Edward?" I asked quietly, he nodded,

"he needs to learn to keep out of peoples head" Emmett said, I could see Emmett's eyes darkening, so I changed the subject
"Why can Edward read minds — why only him? And Alice, seeing the future… why does that happen?" I asked quietly,
I felt him shrug in the darkness. "We don't really know. Carlisle has a theory… he believes that we all bring something of our strongest human traits with us into the next life, where they are intensified, like our minds, and our senses. He thinks that Edward must have already been very sensitive to the thoughts of those around him and that Alice had some precognition, wherever she was." Emmett explained, I nodded,
"What did he bring into the next life, and the others?" I asked curiously,
"Carlisle brought his compassion. Esme brought her ability to love passionately, Rosalie her… tenacity. Or you could call it pigheadedness. Jasper is very interesting. He was quite charismatic in his first life, able to influence those around him to see things his way. Now he is able to manipulate the emotions of those around him, calm down a room of angry people, for example, or excite a lethargic crowd, conversely. It's a very subtle gift" Emmett explained, I was amazed,
I considered the impossibilities he described, trying to take it in. He waited patiently while I thought,
"So where did it all start? I mean, Carlisle changed you, and then someone must have changed him, and so on…" I went on,
"Well, where did you come from? Evolution? Creation? Couldn't we have evolved in the same way as other species, predator and prey? Or, if you don't believe that all this world could have just happened on its own, which is hard for me to accept myself, is it so hard to believe that the same force that created the delicate angelfish with the shark, the baby seal and the killer whale, could create both our kinds together?" he said and chuckled a little
"Let me get this straight, I'm the baby seal, right?" I said and laughed,
"Right." He laughed,
"Are you ready to sleep?" he asked, interrupting the short silence. "Or do you have any more questions?" he enquired,
"Only a million or two." I said honestly,
"We have tomorrow, and the next day, and the next…" he reminded me. I smiled, euphoric at the
thought.
"Are you sure you won't vanish in the morning?" I wanted this to be certain. "You are mythical, after all." I said teasing him,
"I won't leave you." His voice had the seal of a promise in it.

"good" I whispered, Emmett pulled me closer, suddenly feeling more tired than I realized, exhausted from the long day, I drifted to sleep in his cold arms.