Hey everyone! So this is a little outtake I wrote for Fandom for Oklahoma, which I can finally share with you!

I just wanted to thank everyone who wrote, donated, beta'd, made banners, etc. for Fandom for Oklahoma. It was great writing alongside you guys!

So, without further adieu, I give you Emmett's POV of chapter 1. Hope you enjoy!

I was so glad to be back in Forks. It wasn't like it was a rolling metropolis or even on my top 10 list of great places we lived. No, the reason I was so happy to be here was my little sis, Bella.

The whole family didn't really know how to react when we first heard that she was my brother's, Edward, mate. I mean, a human with a vampire? It's never been heard of. But I for one wouldn't have hand-picked a better woman for him. She balances out his crazy quirks and over-protectiveness with her laidback, go-with-the-flow attitude. And the fact that she was fine with us being vampires was incredible. She was a perfect fit for not only Edward but all of us.

Bella grew on me, being the little sister I never had. It was great to tease her just to see her blush or watch her stumble awkwardly around, being the human that she is. But as much as I loved to banter with her, I was definitely in a constant protective, big brother mode with her. I was the only one to give her bear hugs. When someone at school whispered about Bella, I gave them a glare that damn well nearly made them piss themselves. When Bella brought her wish to be a vampire known to the family, I was one of her advocates.

Things were going along great until her eighteenth birthday, also known as The Incident. All it took was a tiny paper cut to turn our lives on its axis. Yes, Jasper lunged for Bella. Yes, it was scary, not only for Bella but for all of us.

While Carlisle stayed at the house to fix her up, I sat with Jasper as he fumed, furious and embarrassed of himself. Esme and Alice worried about what would happen, Edward paced without saying a word, and Rose was indifferent to it all. In the end, we didn't know if she'd run like a bat out of hell away from us after it was all said and done.

But it turned out okay. Bella never blamed anyone, so you would have thought all was well and we'd continue on, right? Wrong.

What we didn't realize was that the thoughts going through Edward's head were about to tear our family apart. He came out of his silence and flipped the fuck out, and I don't blame him. But I do blame him for forcing the family to leave Bella behind. I fought the whole way with everything I had, but the decision was made. I had to leave her behind, and that did not sit well with me.

She's my little sister. She's family. And you don't leave family behind.

Finally, Edward came to his senses, and we returned to Forks. Bella thought she was hallucinating at first, but when Edward hugged her and she felt the temperature difference, she realized we were real. After crying her eyes out for a good half hour, she got control of her emotions and we went on as if we never left.

In fact, we had all become closer. Jasper wanted to spend time with Bella, at first to prove that he could handle himself and to make up for her birthday, but then he became another close brother for Bella, a confidante.

Rose even took to Bella, which I was ecstatic about. I always felt pulled in two directions when it came to those two. On one hand, Rosie was my mate and the love of my life, who I would do anything for. But on the other hand, Bella was my little sister, who I loved to be around and who needed protection, especially because she was human.

With the strengthening of these relationships, Bella spent an incredible amount of time at our place and things continued to get better.

Or so we thought.

We never realized how much our leaving affected Bella until Jasper spoke up once before a hunting trip. Apparently, every time we left for a hunting trip, she would freak emotionally but would never tell us. So off we would be, bagging deer and bears, and she would be stuck at home by herself, suffering.

As a result, we came up with a plan. When it came time for an extended hunting trip, most of the family would go off while one or two stayed behind with Bella to keep her company and basically reassure her that we were coming back.

Well, my turn to 'Bella-babysit' arrived, and it started like any other time.

We had a good night watching movies and just hanging out like we usually do. When she started getting tired, she threw on her pajamas and I made up a make-shift bed on the couch with a bunch of blankets. Seriously, this couch is more like a bed; two people can lay on it comfortably. In fact, it was where the two of us stayed throughout the night, and this became the tradition whenever it was my turn to stay back.

So we got settled and put in another movie, both of us knowing there was no way in hell Bella was going to come out the other side awake.

When she did finally fall asleep partway through the movie, I flipped the TV off so it wouldn't wake her and I studied her. It was kind of strange to watch her sleep. Her eyes would move underneath her eyelids, and her breaths would be slow and steady. Once in a while, she would twitch or shift, and when she was in a deep sleep, she would mumble and talk. It was fascinating, but as I said, it was also strange. It wasn't like she did anything out of the norm, not that I had anything to compare it to. It was just the knowledge that I would never experience that again.

One time, she moved around and caused the blanket to shift. I went to cover her back up when something caught my eye. Looking closer at her leg, I saw thin, straight lines across her upper thigh. Scars. And I noticed they're on both her legs.

What the hell?

I had no idea what would have caused them. I only knew that Bella had been hurt. I could feel the anger and concern rise inside me, and without a second thought, I woke her up.

I needed to know what had happened, and I needed to know immediately.

"Bella? Hey, Bella."

She started to stir, and when I saw that she's coherent enough to carry on a conversation, I questioned her.

"Bella, what is this? What happened?" My voice was a little hard, but I didn't think she could detect it yet.

She glanced down and saw what I was looking at, and her face and eyes changed. I could see that she's horrified, terrified.

"It's nothing, Emmett." She pulled the blanket up to cover her legs, trying to brush off my concerns and line of questioning.

"No, Bella. It's not nothing. What happened?" My voice hardened a fraction more, and I started to almost become unhinged. My compulsion to protect her was out, and I needed to know what I was fighting. Big Brother Emmett was out.

I could see her eyes cloud over, as if she's re-living a painful memory. She sat there and didn't say anything, so I tried to get her to talk again.

"Bella, please," I begged with her, needing answers, needing reassurance that she's okay. "Please tell me what happened."

She surprised me when she lunged for me and wrapped herself around me, crying. Hating to see her like that, I pulled her into my lap, wrapped her in my arms, and started to rock her. Generally, crying females are a good sign to run, but this was my Bella. If she needed a protector, she was going to get one.

"It'll be okay. I'm not leaving you. I'll keep you safe." No matter what, I added silently while rubbing her back.

We sat there like that for endless minutes until her tears ran dry. She brought herself under control again, and when I saw her open her mouth to speak, I was all ears.

"Emmett, this is so hard to tell someone, let alone say out loud. I don't even know what to say or where to start." Her voice was so low that if I was human, I wouldn't have heard her.

We sat there for another few minutes, as if she was composing what to say in her head. I waited for her to continue at her own pace. When she did, it was in a whisper, and I could hear the pain in her voice.

"Emmett, when you guys left, I did stuff I'm not proud of. I felt so numb and so alone that I was like a zombie for the first month. I didn't know what to do. I didn't even feel human anymore."

I winced, but she never noticed. We hurt her so badly when we left. I wanted to blame Edward for his stupid-as-shit idea, but I knew the blame fell on the entire family, including me. I could've stayed while the family left - I know that in the back of my mind - but I decided to stick with Rose and the family. And as much as it would have killed me to be apart from Rosie, it is the one regret I will carry with me.

"One night, it was like I snapped," she continued. "Next thing I knew, I was sitting in the bathroom cutting my leg with a razor blade." Up until then, her head had been on my shoulder, but after that bomb, I needed to look her in the eyes.

I had heard in school about how kids would turn to self-harm, and what we didn't already know, Edward would tell us. He and Carlisle would have discussions about how it affected the body and mind and how quickly it could turn deadly. It came as a surprise to us all how popular it had become. Now that I knew that Bella had turned to it as well, it just made me feel sick or as sick as a vampire can feel.

I was terrified of what could have happened, and I hurt for her for what did happen.

"Bella, you could have killed yourself. What were you thinking?" If I could've cried, I would have. I'm a tough motherfucker, but that just about broke me. I couldn't imagine a life without Bella.

She was crying again as she continued on with her story. "I wasn't Emmett. I just did it and it made me feel pain, so I knew I was still alive. It made me feel human again." She lowered her head so I couldn't see her face again. "I don't know how to describe it."

"I'm so sorry. If I had known it would have affected you this badly, I would have fought harder to stay. I'm so sorry, Bella. I let you down." I was a useless big brother if I let her feel like this. And I had no idea how to make up for it.

She looked up at me again. "No, that wasn't your fault or anyone else's but mine. It was my decision to make, my mistake to make."

She laid her head on my shoulder and hugged me tightly. I wanted to squeeze the hell out of her to show how much love I had for her, but I knew to be careful and gentle. We sat there for a while before a thought jumped in my head.

"Bella, did you only do it that once?" Please, please tell me it was only once.

Again thinking back to those discussions about self-harm, I knew there was a good chance it wasn't a one-time thing, as it was known to be addictive. But I could hope, right?

"No."

Even with anticipating that answer, it came as a shock.

I sighed quietly enough that she didn't hear me. I didn't want her to feel any worse for what had occurred, but I didn't know how to handle that.

"How many times?" I questioned softly.

"Seven. I quit after two months." Well, that was a relief. I was glad it wasn't still happening and that she found the strength to quit while we were still gone.

Bella was quiet throughout my musings until something caused her to panic. "Shit! Edward's going to read your mind. He's going to find out!"

I tried to calm her before she went hysterical or something. After living with Edward for the amount of years I had, I found a way to block my mind so he couldn't hear what I was thinking. Granted, sometimes it slipped, but for the most part, my mind was blank to him. The rest of the family had learned to do it as well, partly for our privacy and partly for Edward's sanity.

"No no no. I can keep him out of my head. He won't know unless you want him to. But Bella, I think he should know."

Even though I knew I could keep it from him, I felt differently. This was huge, and seeing as Edward was her mate, he needed to know. There was only so much I could do for her as her brother. But Edward could comfort and reassure her as her boyfriend and mate and, if need be, get her some help.

I secretly wanted Carlisle to know, as well. I didn't know how much damage she had done to herself, and as much as I had overheard conversations centering around self-harm, I didn't really know the repercussions from cutting oneself, whether it was physical, mental, or emotional. She needed a doctor, even if it happened months ago. She needed to heal.

"No, please, Emmett. You can't tell him. He can't know. He'll flip out," she begged me. Well, I know that would likely happen, but regardless, he needed to know.

Seeing how much it was affecting her, I made a decision that would hopefully reassure her enough to get her through the night and maybe get some sleep. "Fine, I won't tell him, but you'll eventually have to or he'll find out himself."

She calmed a bit and nodded. "I know. But I still need time."

I could understand that. The situation wasn't exactly something you'd want people to know about, and going from just you knowing to an entire family would be tough.

I pulled her into a hug and reassured her. "All right. If you need help telling him or if you ever feel like you have to resort to that again, please let me know. You're my little sister, Bells. I'm supposed to protect you. And I will, even if it's from yourself."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she held on tight to me. Eventually, she fell asleep, relaxing in my arms, and I loosened my hold enough to give her some space.

My gaze once again settled on her. I hated to see her like this, so sad and defeated. I wished she didn't have to hurt like that, that there was something I could actively do.

Settling back, my mind fast forwarded to the future, to a time when all that shit's been dealt with. After overcoming that, I knew she'd be so fucking strong. And I'd make sure she didn't have a reason to cry again.

Eventually, she'd become one of us; a vampire. I'd have one kick-ass little sister to teach crazy shit to, and our family would be complete.

It'd be a fucking Cullen family happily-ever-after.