"Something should have stopped her, should have told her it was a bad idea. Maybe she already knew, maybe she didn't care. The Cullen house sat untouched, as it had for six months."
Bella Swan has been broken, her shattered heart fatefully determine...
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The weeks that followed were strange, to say the least. At last, the once gaping hole that had punctured Bella's chest was stitched with the love of the returned Cullens using the thread of new memories from her weekly study sessions. Rosalie's once frozen exterior had warmed up to Bella, especially considering that she was no longer ready to give up her human life so easily. The obvious tension in the house had disappeared once Edward and Tanya had returned to Alaska.
With Edward gone, Bella felt relieved in a distant type of way. Once, she couldn't imagine her life without him, but for the few weeks he was there, she almost wanted him gone. He felt like an painful itch she couldn't reach, sore and annoying. The man she had pictured the rest of her life with was now a notch in the back of her mind. Emmett stood at the very forefront of her brain, his smiles and jokes a drastic difference from the ever melancholy Edward. She truly loved Emmett.
One rainy afternoon, Bella and Rosalie sat quietly in the living room. Emmett and Jasper were outside settling a bet: how long could Emmett wrestle a bear before a limb got removed? Alice's tiny body stood in the pouring rain, taking bets from Jasper, Xolani, and Jacob. Bella knew if she went outside, it was sure to mean a serious cold and Rosalie already knew the answer: six and a half minutes. They watched from the tall glass windows that surrounded the house.
"Would you like to hear something?" Rosalie asked, her eyes glued to her family outside.
"I-I guess," Bella answered, unsure.
"Edward told me at one time, soon after the first time you asked to be changed, that he would challenge your request." Rose's honey colored eyes found Bella's confused face, her brown hair covering her rosy cheeks like a thick blanket.
"Challenge? With what?"
"Marriage." Rosalie had been furious at Edward. Well, more so than she always was. Even though they had never personally talked about it, Rose had heard conversations between her brother and his girlfriend. Bella was dead set on not getting married, she saw her own parents' marriage fall apart and Edward was selfish enough to give her an ultimatum.
"I-I don't wanna get married," she was saying it more to herself than to Rosalie.
"I know." Of most of the Cullens, Rosalie knew what it was like to be forced into a life she didn't want.
"Why would he-"
"He's selfish Bella. Edward is my brother and I love him as such, but he is a selfish man. I know just as well, though, that you would have married him, to please him, probably. You would have grown to resent him because he would have used your marriage to control you. To force feed you expensive clothes and cars and jewelry, even though he knows that it's not you. He couldn't accept that you are beautifully normal, Bella, and that is his flaw."
Rosalie had never spoken so honestly with Bella, and that frightened the both of them. It was then that Bella became insecure. Insecurity washed over at the very idea of Emmett proposing marriage.
"Do you think it's a deal breaker? Marriage? For Emmett?" If Rosalie hadn't had vampiric sensitive hearing, Bella's words might have flown right past her.
Giving a light laugh and placing a cold hand on Bella's shoulder, Rose explained, "Absolutely not, Emmett's never truly cared for formalities, speaking of-"
The group of vampires and Jacob piled through the door at that point, eager to tell Bella the results. Six and a half minutes.
Sleep seemed impossible that night. The cold medicine she would take in those situations wasn't working and Bella was desperate. She climbed out of bed, a light sheen of sweat covering her from tossing and turning, and walked quietly to the window.
"Emmett!" She whispered loudly into the night. In a second he was standing beneath her window, warning her to step back. The house creaked as he jumped in and they both laughed breathlessly.
"You might wanna check out a contractor or something to fix that," he whispered, his hand caressing her jaw.
"Do you want to tell Charlie? Or should I?" She mused. He smiled and kissed her lips lightly.
Bella took it upon herself to deepen the kiss, worried but slightly hoping that Emmett would push her away as Edward had. Instead, he followed her lead, giving her complete control. She loathed it, knowing that she would take it as far as he let her. Bella didn't know if she could stand the idea of having sex two doors down from her father.
He gently pulled away from her, reminding her about Charlie, almost as if their minds were in sync. A shyness overcame Bella and she took upon herself to ask, "So it's because of Charlie...and not because of your, uh, control?"
Emmett would have let out a booming laugh, given the chance. "Babe, Edward has the control of a twelve year old Mormon boy who just met a girl that's not in the family. While he was dry sobbing in his room, the rest of us practiced control."
"Oh."
When Bella let out a long yawn, the cold medicine finally taking effect, Emmett made sure she was comfortable in her bed before dramatically exiting through the window. He reminded her of Bela Lugosi and she dreamed of Dracula that night, only the role of the prince of darkness went to Emmett Cullen while Mina was played by a pale figure with dark hair and matching eyes.
The next Saturday she was working diligently at Newton's, the afternoon rush taking quick effect. She had just finished ringing up Jessica Stanley's mother, who seemed hellbent on finding out everything about her relationship to Emmett, when the vampire himself strutted up to the counter. In his hands he carried three things: a can of corn, a bag of chips, and a small bag of party balloons.
"Do I even want to know what these are for?" Bella joked, and Emmett let out an attention grabbing laugh.
"Oh, I don't need any of these, I just wanted to come see you." He smirked, leaning against the counter in a cocky fashion. Bella blushed, her hands shaking as she bagged the unnecessary items.
"But now that I have them, I am definitely gonna see how far I can chuck em'."
