this golden sun || emmett cullen

Three: Eating Is Healthy, Even If You Aren't

Bella was drowning, not actually drowning as in underwater, even if it felt like that. Every memory of Edward was swimming through her head and it felt like fireworks, exploding loudly and brightly and turning to ash, quickly replaced with a new one. The memories kept coming, as soon as one ended, a new one popped up, each causing more pain than the last.
Emmett continued to hold her, he held her for hours as the sun lowered and he realized the situation was probably the longest she had slept in six months, the thought gnawing at his brain, causing guilt to flood in and pain in his heart.
When Bella woke up, Emmett noticed the beads of sweat collecting on her forehead as well as the glassiness of her eyes as she held back tears.

"Hey," he soothed her as best as he knew how, "do you want something to eat, I can get anything you want." She immediately shook her head, the thought of eating causing bile to rise in her throat. He nodded but continued, "You need to eat something, anything, even if it's something small."

"I'm really not hungry," her voice cracked as she spoke, confirming that she hadn't talked much in the time his family's been gone.

"I don't care if you're not hungry, if you don't eat, you're just going to get weaker. Bella, you cannot do this to yourself over Edward, he's one person, too many other people care about you—I care about you—for you to do this," he held her hands in his own as he looked into her eyes, which were pooled with deep sadness and she nodded.
After eating, Bella immediately felt sick. She didn't want to worry Emmett but her stomach was not handling the sudden intake of food well. The vampire gave her a strange look, seeing as her face had paled significantly when she ran to the bathroom as quickly as she could and emptied the contents of her stomach. She immediately felt large hands pulling her hair back as she began sobbing into the toilet.

"I'm so sorry," she raised her head, looking at Emmett who had already wet a towel to clean her up. He was confused and decidedly ignored her apology, cleaning her mouth and wiping her tears away gently with his fingers.

"You don't have to apologize, I shouldn't have made you eat so much knowing you're not used to it. From now on, baby steps?" His eyes were full of hope, wishing her to take his help. Joy overtook his body when she nodded weakly to his proposal.
He picked her up, her head falling on his shoulder, eyes fluttering shut. Ignoring the tingling he felt in his body, Emmett returned her to the couch, setting her down gently. If there was one thing Emmett Cullen knew, it was that Bella Swan caused an erosion of feelings in his unbeating heart, even if she didn't know it.
As much as he wanted to call and check in with his family, Emmett knew that it would do no good, as they would just call Edward to alert him of Bella's state. He hated the thought of the bronze haired vampire giving Bella the false hope he had given her before, just to abandon her when she became vulnerable. The screams that came out of her in her sleep were enough to make him forget the whole idea, he just wanted to hold her.

When Bella woke the next morning, fresh tears had escaped her swollen eyes and her throat raw from screaming. In a second, Emmett was by her side, pushing her hair behind her ears and cupping her face in his hands. No words were spoken as she cried into his chest, raw emotion spilling into the room along with the tears. The dull ache in Bella's chest was more evident than ever as her dream showed a future she would never have with a man who never loved her.
Emmett decided to do the hardest thing he'd ever have to do. Of course, the call had been expected thanks to Alice but was surprising nonetheless. Carlisle agreed to fly the family home, once Emmett assured them Bella was ready. No one had any idea how long it would be until she was, but they knew they had plenty of time.