Chapter Twelve

Bella found she liked snuggling up with Emmett in a dark theater. She even enjoyed watching him torment the other couples in the room by pelting them with popcorn when their make out sessions got a bit too loud. There was one guy who had turned around, ready to pick a fight before he caught sight of who exactly was tormenting him. She was proud her mate was someone other males would hesitate to go up against. Even if this male in particular was a human.

"Hungry?" Emmett asked as they walked out of the theater together, his arm once more wrapped around her shoulders.

"Just a little. But I can wait until we get back home," Bella said.

"Babe, did you not hear me before the movie? Stereotypical date night would have us go to dinner after," Emmett reminded her with a playful grin.

"But you can't eat," Bella said, looking up at him in surprise.

"I can still sit with you while you eat," Emmett said. "Looking at you is never a bad way to spend time."

Bella felt a lightness overtake her at his words and she smiled up at him, happier than she could ever have imagined. When she had thought about what her mate might be like, she thought she would find herself someone well mannered, soft spoken, an intellectual. It was a surprise to find that her mate was actually a strong, protective prankster. The things she had thought would be so important, like that her mate share her love of books, turned out to be not so important after all. She could easily see her and Emmett spending time together, Emmett playing his video games while she read beside him.

She liked that he found her so attractive, beautiful even. She liked that he could watch her sleep for hours and found her human moments adorable instead of embarrassing. She liked that he gave in so easily when she mentioned not liking horror movies. She liked that he always, always, touched her when they were together.

She loved how he made her feel like she was the most important thing in the world to him.

"I love you," she whispered, going up on her toes to press a quick kiss to his jaw.

He was grinning when she pulled away, his eyes warm on her face.

"Love you, too, babe. Now, what's my girl craving for dinner?"

He took her to an Italian place nearby. She giggled over the idea of a vampire in a place that served garlic, considering the myths that surrounded that very topic. Emmett shared her amusement and, just to prove he could, took a bite out of the garlic bread that came with her meal.

"Emmett!" she giggled, snatching the bread away before he could try to ingest more.

One bite probably wouldn't hurt him, but human food did have a nasty effect on vampires when they were forced to eat it. Usually it resulted in hours of vomiting and she did not want her mate to suffer through that pain.

"Just proving a point, babe," Emmett said with a swift wink.

"Point proven. I don't think you want to spend hours tonight vomiting," Bella told him, making sure to keep her voice low.

"Definitely not. I have much more important things to attend to tonight," Emmett said with a lavish wink.

She felt herself blush under his heated gaze, a response she had learned to manage in her prior form nearly six decades ago. Her mate eyeballing her like something he'd like to lick like a popsicle had her warming in response. She felt herself responding to him, her pussy warmed and turned liquid. His nostrils flared in response to her arousal as he scented her, his eyes darkening from honey gold to midnight black.

"Bella," he rumbled.

"Sorry, sorry," Bella said, turning back to her plate.

The mushroom ravioli was superb, much better than what she would have expected from a place with sticky menus and greasy tables. The family who ran the restaurant were Korean, which made the excellent Italian food even more of a surprise. The lemon butter sauce was, by far, the best she had ever had.

"Good?" Emmett asked, shifting in his seat.

"Very," Bella agreed, licking her folk.

Emmett grunted in response, shifting again. She looked up at him, curious at his agitation, before she saw where his gaze was focused. He was watching her mouth, the way her lips wrapped around the fork tines, and how her tongue darted out to clean the sauce from her utensils and her lips.

She couldn't help but smile in satisfaction at her mate's obvious entrancement.

Unable to resist, when she took her next bite, she purposefully dabbed a bit of sauce at the corner of her mouth, giving her the opportunity to dart her tongue out to gather it up. She could almost hear Emmett's teeth grinding in response.

"I wonder how their chocolate mousse is," Bella mused out-loud as she speared one of the last of her ravioli.

"You want some?" Emmett asked, his voice husky.

"Mmmm. Yes!" Bella moaned, cleaning off her fork. If the mousse was half as good at the lemon butter sauce, she was about to be in heaven.

She glanced up at Emmett to see him swallow forcefully before forcing his eyes off her to look around for their waitress. As soon as he caught sight of the young woman, he flagged her over. Bella frowned at just how… eager… the girl was to service them.

"Yes? Did you decide you wanted something?" the girl, Cheryl, asked.

"My girlfriend would like to try your chocolate mousse," Emmett said, his attention once again on Bella.

"Oh, of course! I see you thoroughly enjoyed our ravioli," Cheryl said with a smug grin.

"It was absolutely delicious. Thank you," Bella agreed happily, pushing the empty plate towards Cheryl.

Cheryl picked up the plate, giving Bella a sardonic smile, before turning a blindingly bright grin on Emmett. When she noticed he wasn't watching her, she spun on her heel and flounced away, adding an extra swing to her hips in an effort to entice his gaze. Bella looked back at her mate to find him watching her with a small smile.

"She's trying to flirt with you," Bella said casually.

"Is she?" Emmett asked, just as casually.

"Mm-hm. And she thinks you're too good for me," Bella continued.

"Does she?" Emmett asked, still in that same tone.

"Mm-hm. And that I eat too much," Bella said, taking a sip of her water.

"Do you?" Emmett asked, smirking at her.

Bella threw her balled up straw wrapper at him in retaliation. He, of course, caught the tiny ball before leaning over the table to wrap his hand around the back of her neck, forcing her up out of her seat. They met in the middle of the table, their faces close together, sharing breaths.

"You're the only one I want to flirt with; it's me who's not good enough for you; and you definitely don't eat enough to satisfy me, babe. If I had my way, you'd have eaten about three more plates before dessert," Emmett told her quietly.

"You would have had to roll me out the door," Bella warned on a soft whisper.

"I would have carried you all the way home, if needed. You're still so thin, babe. It makes me anxious and reminds me of just how sick you were. I want to see you back to your fighting weight as soon as possible. If that means loading you up on carbs until you can't function, I'm okay with that," Emmett said.

"I don't think we need to go that far. My weight will come back," Bella assured him, reaching up to rub her hand down his forearm.

"I know. You must still have some of your vampire healing traits, because you've gained weight since this morning. Probably about ten pounds or so," Emmett observed, eyeing her breasts.

"Emmett!" Bella snapped, her smile betraying her lack of offense.

"Just sayin'," Emmett mumbled, releasing her neck which allowed them both to resume their seats, just in time for Cheryl's reappearance with dessert.

"Here you are. Il sogno del cioccolato: the chocolate dream. Buon appetito," Cheryl said, trying to impress Emmett with her Italian.

"Grazie, mucca oscena. Ora, smetti di flirtare con il mio compagno di vita o mio padre ti berrà asciutto," Bella said with a sweet smile.

Cheryl's grin faded and she frowned at Bella in confusion.

Emmett cleared his throat to hide his laughter before saying, "Thank you. We'll go ahead and take the check as well, when you have time."

"Oh, of course! Right away," Cheryl said, turning her megawatt smile back on.

After she had flounced away, Emmett shot Bella an approving smirk.

"I didn't know you spoke Italian," he said.

"And Spanish, French, Portuguese, Mandarin, German, Russian, Swedish, and Swahili," Bella listed off her knowledge of languages.

"Really? Any particular reason?" Emmett asked.

"No, just boredom. And I found I had an affinity for it as a hybrid, so Charlotte found me tutors," Bella told him with a small shrug.

"What's your favorite language?" he asked as she began eating.

"Oh, that's hard. I really like Russian, for some reason, but Swahili is a lot of fun," Bella grinned.

"Tell me something in Russian, then," Emmett requested.

Bella bit her lip before saying, "Ty takoy bol'shoy i sil'nyy. YA ne mogu dozhdat'sya, kogda ty pochuvstvuyesh', kak ty stuchayesh'sya v menya."

"Mmm. That sounded pretty sexy, babe," Emmett murmured, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "What did you say?"

"Something along the lines of 'you are so big and strong. I can't wait to feel you pounding into me'," Bella told him innocently.

She heard a crack a moment later and stared at him in awe as he casually brushed aside a piece of the table that had just broken off in his hand.

"You shouldn't tease, babe," Emmett warned on a low growl.

"I know, I'm sorry. I can't help it, though. The mating pull is stronger than I thought it would be with me as a human. I want you so bad, all the time," Bella said with a slight whine.

"We can't. Not until you're changed," Emmett reminded her, through his clenched jaw.

"I know, I know. Really, I am sorry, Emmett," Bella said, feeling tears well.

"No, babe. Don't cry. It's all right. It's only another couple days," Emmett said, reaching over to brush her cheek where a few tears fell.

"I hate this, though. If it wasn't for James, we wouldn't have to wait. We would already have completed the mating bond and everything would be perfect," Bella complained through her tears.

"But if it wasn't for James, Peter and Charlotte wouldn't have brought you to Carlisle. We wouldn't even be together right now. Much as I hate to say it, I'm almost glad the bastard injected you. I would've waited for you for forever, but I'm pleased as all fuck that I've got you with me now and not another seventy years from now," Emmett admitted achingly.

"I know what you mean. I probably would have opened my vein for him if I had known it would bring us together," Bella confessed with a slight lift of one shoulder.

"You're so fucking awesome," Emmett sighed, leaning back in his chair.

Bella gave him a smile, picking her spoon up once more before replying, "You're awesomer."

On the way home, Emmett kept Bella's hand in his, resting against his thigh. It felt good to have her fingers absently stroke along his own and he decided to take the long way home. Instead of taking the 101 through the Olympic National Park, he took Route 112 to Route 113, which added about twenty extra minutes of time alone with his mate.

Right before they turned onto the 113, she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder with a soft sigh.

"Thanks for tonight," she murmured.

"Anytime, babe," Emmett rumbled back, leaning down to place a kiss to the top of her head.

"What do you think the typical date night will be for us in another fifty years?" Bella mused tiredly, rubbing her cheek against his shirt.

He had to close his eyes for a moment to absorb the knowledge that he would have her, forever. There were hundreds of thousands of date nights in their future. He looked forward to each and every one.

"Don't know. But I do know they'll be perfect," Emmett told her.

"Yeah," Bella breathed, shifting into a more comfortable position as she drifted off to sleep.

Emmett rode the rest of the way in silence, listening to the fluttering of his mate's heart and the soft breaths of her dreams. If given the choice, he would have driven for eternity with her pressed against his side, but he knew she would be far more comfortable in an actual bed.

When he pulled up to the house, Peter and Charlotte were standing outside, waiting for them. He grinned at the image they made of worried parents awaiting the return of their daughter after being taken out by some asshole teenager. It truly was the stereotypical date night end, except he wouldn't be giving Bella a chaste kiss goodnight before returning to his home. No, his mate would spend the night pressed against him, sleeping soundly under his protection.

When the car turned off, she shifted against him, mumbling incoherently. Emmett ran his fingers through her hair to encourage her back to sleep and she settled with a soft sigh against him.

Moving carefully, he exited the jeep with Bella in his arms. She curled against his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck as though he were a teddy bear, causing him to smile into her hair.

"Is she all right? You didn't wear her out, did you?" Charlotte asked anxiously.

"No, she's fine. It's just late, is all. We didn't do anything taxing," Emmett assured her as he climbed the steps to them.

Charlotte reached out to run her palm down Bella's hair, smiling warmly at her daughter.

"Let's let them get inside, darlin'," Peter murmured to his mate, wrapping an arm around Charlotte's waist.

Emmett passed by them into the main living area of the house and stopped in surprise. Normally, this late at night, the family would be broken off into couples, with Edward and Rosalie either disappearing to fuck each other or retreating to their separate rooms to do whatever the hell they did and the rest of the family pairing off to spend the evening hours alone together.

Tonight, though, the entire family was downstairs, waiting for them. All eyes turned to him when he walked inside with Bella in his arms. Emmett watched Rosalie and Edward closely, uncertain why they were with the rest of the family, if everyone was in fact waiting for them. He noticed that Edward was staring at Bella's neck, where her pulse beat, and moved his hand to cover her neck. He gave a sub-vocal growl when Edward didn't remove his gaze.

Edward's eyes snapped up to meet Emmett's.

Don't even think about it, asshole, Emmett thought to him.

Edward quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to provoke a male defending his mate. Edward might be able to read minds, but Emmett had decades of practice keeping Edward out of his head. When it came to hand-to-hand combat, Emmett won against his brother more often than he lost.

"Emmett."

Esme's soft reprimand for his growl turned his attention back to the rest of his family.

"How did Bella handle tonight?" Carlisle asked, rising from his place beside Esme to come closer.

"Fine. We did a movie and a dinner," Emmett told him.

"Ah, good. She does look as though she's gained a good bit of weight. She's still not quite where we would want her to be for her transition, but close," Carlisle observed.

"We talked about it at dinner. I don't think Joham was right about her losing all her vampire traits. I think she at least retained some of her healing abilities," Emmett said, absently stroking his thumb along Bella's pulse.

"Interesting. Edward, are you able to read her thoughts?" Carlisle asked, turning to look at his first born.

"No, she's as silent as ever," Edward said, his eyes one again fastened on Bella's neck.

Emmett gave a quick snarl in response and turned so he was between his mate and the threat to her human life. Edward swallowed and quickly looked away, but Emmett could smell the desire in his scent and the surplus of venom Edward was attempting to swallow down.

"Go hunt, boy," Peter snapped, placing himself between Emmett and Edward.

"Don't tell me what to do," Edward said, glaring.

"Perhaps it's best if you do hunt, Edward. You haven't gone since this morning," Esme suggested gently.

"I'll go with you," Alice offered, doing a back-flip over the back of the couch.

"Fine," Edward grumbled, glancing once more at Bella before darting out of the house.

"Don't worry, Em. I'll talk to him," Alice promised before taking off after her brother.

Emmett briefly wondered if his pixie of a sister had seen anything and sent a surge of curiosity to Jasper, who just shrugged in response. If Alice had had a vision of Edward, she hadn't shared with her mate.

"I think we need to set up a dining schedule for Bella, to best regain her strength before the change. I'll put something together tonight," Carlisle offered, already lost to his thoughts of nutritional value and dietary benefits.

"Thank you," Emmett said as Carlisle wandered to join his mate on the loveseat.

"Careful you don't make her fat, Carlisle. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Emmett does have some standards. Or, at least he used to," Rosalie said with a delicate sniff.

Charlotte hissed at her, baring her teeth aggressively at the insult to her daughter.

"You're wrong. I didn't have any standards before, but I sure as hell do now," Emmett told her, ignoring her own responding hiss of displeasure. "I'm going to take Bella upstairs. We'll see you all tomorrow."

"I'll walk up with you," Jasper said, raising from his place in the armchair.

Emmett began walking up the stairs as Jasper joined him, curious as to what the empath felt needed to be shared. Whatever they spoke about, the rest of the family would be able to hear. There was no privacy in a house full of vampires.

Instead of speaking, though, Jasper sent him waves of emotions. The first was a feeling of anxious hesitancy, followed closely by the feeling of excitement similar to the thrill of a hunt and a soft contented kind of warmth. Desperation and a deep feeling of desire, want, need for something came after that. He ended with a feeling of false brooding and intense lust, his usual emotion when describing Edward.

With the last emotions, Emmett understood. The anxious hesitancy was a warning for Emmett to be cautious. The excitement was what Edward felt and the soft warmth was to represent Bella. Edward was hunting Bella, or at least had similar feelings towards her. The desperation and desire was Edward's driving need for her blood.

"Understood," was all Emmett said as they stopped outside Emmett and Bella's room.

Jasper nodded once before continuing on to his and Alice's room, to await his mate's return.

Emmett carried Bella into their room and began the task of getting his mate ready for bed. He stripped her of her clothes and shoes before slipping one of his t-shirts over her head. While he would have preferred she slept naked, the sight of her delicious body draped across his bed would be far too much temptation. At least until he changed her.

Once he had her properly attired, he urged her to enough of a wakefulness to brush her teeth and make use of the toilet before guiding her to their bed. He pulled the covers up over her shoulders before taking his customary place beside her. As soon as she felt his weight hit the mattress, she turned and flung her arm across his waist, tugging herself closing to his body. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and her head found it's place resting on his shoulder. She entwined her legs with his and wiggled to reduce the limited space between them until their bodies were pressed as tightly together as possible.

"Thanks for the best first date ever," Bella mumbled tiredly.

"You're welcome, babe. Go to sleep," Emmett chuckled.

"Mmkay. Love you," she said, already falling into dreamland.

"I love you, too. So fucking much."

She gave a delicate snore in response and Emmett grinned as he settled in for another night of holding his mate while she slept.